


Everything I Hate About You

by Thegracefulnerd



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: Cardan is a weird toss up between a pretty boy and a punk guy?, F/M, I finished QoN help, I'm procrastinating my school work by writing this rip, Jude is gonna talk a lot about feminism, Taryn is gonna whine, but at the end of the day she's redeemed, high school cliques mixed with faerie nonsense what could go wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21567586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thegracefulnerd/pseuds/Thegracefulnerd
Summary: *Mild QoN spoilersGarett, or "The Ghost", just started school at Elfhame. He wants Taryn, but Locke wants Taryn too. But she can't date until her basket case sister dates, so they have to get creative and find someone just as insane as her so that they have a chance at Taryn. What could go wrong?
Relationships: Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar, Taryn Duarte/The Ghost, The Roach/The Bomb (background)
Comments: 49
Kudos: 202





	1. So, You're the New Kid.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm back, with another multi-chapter based off of a movie. In my defense, I finished QoN and then re-watched 10 Things the next day and everything kind of clicked into place. This doesn't have any real QoN spoilers, just the Ghost's name and the "tension/chemistry/whatever the fuck" with Taryn. Also, I forgot to see how his name is spelled so I guessed, and I googled the Roach's name because frankly I'm too lazy to flip through the books again. Enjoy :)

The guidance counselor’s office felt more like a prison than anything. The walls were painted a dark navy blue and covered in millions of different depictions of the ocean. Garett figured she liked the ocean; her entire office was beach themed. Seashells scattered her desk at random and decorated her metal name tag that read MS. ORLAGH. She’d been typing away at her laptop for nearly fifteen minutes, her long nails making an insufferable _clack-clack-clack_ against the keyboard. Finally, she seemed satisfied with what she’d written and closed the laptop. She looked at Garett over the wire rims of her glasses, he found her black eyes unnerving. 

“So, Garett, what brings you here to Elfhame?” She asked tiredly. 

“My dad’s job relocated here. We move around a lot,” he answered automatically. He so was used to answering that question that by now, it was an almost robotic response. 

“Ah, well, you’ll find Elfhame is the same as any other high school,” she started. She was interrupted briefly by a loud smack against the window, and Garett saw that someone had tossed what looked like their lunch against the window. Orlagh twitched, “Same little ass-wipes, shit for brains, that you find anywhere.” She pushed a schedule towards him and waved her hands in the universal ‘get out’ gesture. “That’s your schedule, someone’s coming to show you around, they’ll be in the office, I think. Now scoot, I’ve got a thousand other delinquents to deal with today.”

He sat there for a moment, stunned at the strange interaction. Orlagh only waved her hands more impatiently, “Scoot!” 

He stood and stumbled his way out of her office, nearly running into another student. He was one of the most bizarre guys Garett had ever seen. Ridiculously tall and clad from head to toe in black, with the black shaggy hair to match. Garett hurried away from the office, eager to get away from him and the trippy guidance counselor. He made his way to the hallway and stood there awkwardly, wondering what he was supposed to do now. 

“So, you’re the new kid,” a gruff voice commented. Garett turned to see a shorter guy with wild dark hair and black eyes staring up at him. 

“Yeah, I am. Are you the guy that’s supposed to show me around?” 

He nodded, “Yep. I’m Van, but my friends call me Roach.” 

“Why Roach?” Garett asked, confused as to why someone would want to be referred to as a pest. 

He just smirked, “It’s a long story. Come on,” he clapped Garett on the back with suprising force, “You’ve gotta see Elfhame.” 

He led them through the hallways of the school, pointing out various social groups and explaining the dos and don’ts of social interaction at Elfhame. He pointed to a group of well-dressed kids next to their lockers and shook his head, “Those are the rich jocks. Can’t play for shit but their parents are loaded enough to get them on the team,” Roach explained. “Don’t try to talk to them, they won’t even acknowledge you exist.” 

Garett nodded, trying to keep up with the Roach’s fast-paced speech. He led them through the elaborate front entrance of the school and out onto the courtyard. He pointed to another group, “Those are the coffee hipsters, they think they’re special ‘cause they drink that weird shit.” 

“Weird shit?” Garett asked. 

Roach shrugged, “I don’t really know, when they start talking it all kind of rushes together.” 

Garett nodded, and looked around the courtyard warily. He was going to ask the Roach where he fit in, but something caught his attention. Well, someone. It was a girl, with shoulder length auburn hair and a yellow sundress. She was one of the prettiest girls he thought he’d ever seen. 

Beside him, the Roach started laughing, “Oh no, keep dreaming Romeo.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean,” the Roach started emphatically, “That’s Taryn Duarte. She’s a total airhead, one of those bubblegum types you know?”

“You don’t know that!” Garett defended. 

“I do know that,” the Roach said simply. “Besides, her dad is super protective, he won’t let her date. Plus, word on the street is that her sister’s a total basket case.” 

Garett shook his head, “You’re wrong about her, there’s gotta be more to her than that.” 

Roach only shrugged and looked at Garett sympathetically, “Pine all you want, it’s a lost cause. Come on, I’ve gotta show you how we park before I’m officially off the hook.” He led Garett to the parking lot, but Garett kept craning his neck back to catch a glimpse of Taryn.

He was so busy staring after her, he missed the douchey red head smoking a cigarette with his group of rich kid friends. 

“Yo Locke, I’ve got a bet for you,” one of them said. 

Locke raised an eyebrow, “And what’s that?” 

“I bet you $20 you couldn’t get it with Taryn Duarte.” 

Locke scoffed, “She’s hot, I’ll give you that. In fact, don’t even make it a bet. I’m gonna do this for fun.” 

~

Jude was already pissed off. Taryn had taken forever to get ready that morning, nearly causing her to be late, and then when she was finally ready to leave, she’d gotten a ride with Nicasia instead of Jude. Effectively wasting her time and pissing her off. Thankfully, she'd made it to her last class of the day without murdering anyone. English was probably her least hated class, even though her teacher, Randalin, didn't really like her. No one knew if that was his first or last name, it was just what he’d asked students to call him from the beginning of time. 

“Now, what did everyone think of the readings?” He asked from his podium. 

“I thought it was dreamy,” a girl said from the front row. 

Jude scoffed, “Dreamy? Try ridiculously sexist and demeaning.” 

Randalin sighed, “Ok Jude, just go ahead and get it out of your system.” 

“It’s true!” Jude defended indignantly, “It’s ridiculous, and does nothing but promote the idea that women should be stripped of their autonomy in order to seem appealing to men. Why can’t we read something from a woman, like Sylvia Plath or Margaret Atwood?” 

Someone behind her snickered, “Hey Randalin, you think you could get Jude to take her midol before class?” 

Randalin’s eyes snapped up and he glared, “Shut it Lock-and-Key, the only reason you’re still in this school is because of your parent’s money.” 

The door to the classroom swung open dramatically, and in walked one of the most ridiculously dressed boys Jude had ever seen in her life. “What did I miss?” He asked lazily. 

“Nothing but the patriarchal bullshit of our society,” Jude snapped. 

“Oh, good.” With that he turned and left the classroom again. 

Randalin dropped his head onto the podium, “I give up, you’re dismissed for the day.”

A clamor of excitement swallowed the room, and Jude hurriedly tossed her stuff into her backpack. Maybe she could find a way to get Taryn out early too so they could finally go home. She made her way down the hall, and thankfully, it seemed that Taryn’s class had let out early too. But, before she could even reach her sister, Locke had thrown his arm around her and offered her a ride. Taryn all but squealed and dragged her friend with the blue hair along with her. 

Jude wanted to protest, heavily, but instead she rolled her eyes and made her way to her car. At least no one would bitch about the music she played.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> p.s the readings for Jude's English class were from the Taming of the Shrew which is the play 10 Things is based on.


	2. Let's Make a Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the first full length fic I've done for TFOTA and I'm really trying to make sure everyone seems in character. I know Taryn is a little too whiny and the Ghost isn't really a pining teenager, but it's an AU based off of a 1999 teenage rom-com, I'm working with it. Bear with me, and next chapter will be far more interesting. Thanks for reading! :)

She beat Taryn home, unsurprisingly, and decided to get a jumpstart on her homework for Randalin. Even if she hated his assignments, it still wasn’t worth tanking her grade over. She was reading in the living room when Madoc walked in. 

“Hello, Jude. Have you made anyone cry today?” 

Jude glanced up at her foster father. Madoc was ex-military and he looked the part too. He was six feet tall and built like a linebacker. He would’ve seemed intimidating to most, but Jude only found herself mildly inconvenienced by his mannerisms. 

“No, but it’s still only 4:30,” Jude answered before turning back to her book. 

“Where’s your sister?” Madoc asked suddenly. 

Jude was about to answer, then the woman of the hour herself came trapezing in. She looked ridiculous in Jude’s book. She knew that her sundress was about three inches against dress-code, but she didn’t care and frankly the administrators were too afraid of Madoc to say anything about it. She wore her hair down, and had caked on a layer of makeup. Jude just assumed she did it to make herself look as different from her twin sister as possible. 

“Hi Madoc,” Taryn chirped.

“Where have you been?” He asked, cutting right to the chase. Jude smirked behind her book. 

“Nicasia drove me home,” Taryn lied. 

Jude slammed her book shut “No, she didn’t.” 

Taryn threw her hands up, “Why do you have to be such a bitch!” 

Madoc ignored her outburst and looked at Taryn sternly, “Who drove you home?” 

“Ok, don’t be mad, but there’s this guy Locke, he offered to drive me and Nicasia home.”

Madoc, “What’s the house rules again?” 

“Don’t be stupid and no boys,” Taryn answered quickly, “But- “ 

Madoc cut her off, “Exactly. No boys.” 

Taryn huffed and stomped her foot, “That’s so unfair! You let Vivi date when she was in high school!” 

He only rolled his eyes, “Your sister would never had listened to me regardless of the rules I placed on her, and besides she had no interest in dating until she met that Hannah girl.” 

“Heather,” Jude corrected. 

“Whatever,” Madoc growled, he was clearly growing frustrated, “The rule still stands that you are not to date until you graduate. That’s the deal, and it always has been.” 

“But that’s ridiculous! I’m seventeen!” 

Jude snickered behind her book. She had to admit that watching Taryn and Madoc have their monthly fight about whether or not she could date yet was one of her favorite past times. 

“Madoc, I’m the only girl in school that isn’t dating!” Taryn whined.

“Your sister doesn’t seem to think dating is necessary.”

“That’s because it isn’t.” 

Taryn rounded on Jude with the kind of anger only a scorned teenager could possess, “Why do you have to be so weird all the time! Are you even human?” 

“Are you even hearing yourself right now?” Jude shot back. 

“Girls! Girls!” Madoc yelled. He made a ‘time out’ gesture with his hands and looked at them both levelly. “I think I have found a solution. Taryn, you may date someone, but only if Jude dates as well.” 

Taryn went from elated to miserable in the span of thirty seconds. “But she’s never going to date! She’s gonna end up an old bitter hag!” 

“Thanks for that sis,” Jude snapped. 

“But it’s the truth!” Taryn looked from Jude to Madoc and when she realized neither of them where budging she groaned. “This is so unfair!” She stomped up the steps to her room, and Madoc only shrugged. 

“I think that’s an effective solution. Now, I’ll have peace at night knowing that Taryn isn’t being felt up by some half-wit, and that you’re being well- you,” he said. He looked at Jude with a rare openness that Jude had come to realize meant ‘I’m trying even though it may not seem like it.’

Jude just nodded, “Yeah, it seems like a good plan.” 

~

“So, I heard some news about your dream girl,” the Roach said, sitting down beside Garett. 

“What is it?” He asked eagerly. 

“It looks like her crazy old man changed up the rules, apparently she can date but only if her sister does too,” Roach explained. He grabbed a fry off Garett’s lunch tray and ate it happily. Garett ignored that and tried to hide his excitement. 

“That’s good isn’t it? How hard is it for a senior girl to get a date?” 

At that the Roach burst out laughing, drawing the attention of the students nearest to them. After a few minutes too long, he finally managed to contain his laughter. “You don’t understand, her sister is a bitch. No one will date her, because no one likes her.” 

“She can’t be that bad,” Garett defended. 

The Roach grabbed Garett by the chin and forced him to look at the table across the lunchroom. “You see the blonde guy in the polo?” 

Garett nodded. 

“Name’s Valerian. He and Jude got in a fight last year and she broke his nose, and apparently did some other damage to his more special pieces.” 

Garett felt disappointment wash over him. How could someone so bitchy be related to Taryn? “Well, then what do we do?” 

The Roach shrugged, “There’s not much we can do. I mean, if you’re really set on asking Taryn out, we could try to pay someone to date Jude.” 

“I don’t have any money.” 

“Neither do I. But I know someone who does and who’d be willing to shell it out. Just meet me outside the Gym at the end of the day.” 

“That sounds super shady but ok, why not.”

At the end of the day, Roach was outside the gym like he promised, and grinning from ear to ear. 

“I think I got it all worked out.” 

“What do you mean?” Garett asked. 

“I know this douchebag, Locke. He’s totally loaded and likes to stir shit up, he’s willing to dish out the cash to get someone to date Jude,” Roach explained. 

“Ok, but who is he gonna ask?” 

At that the Roach somehow grinned even wider, “Oh you’ll love this. So, Locke knows this guy, total rich kid but also just super scary. Looks like an emo David Bowie, but if anyone here is nuts enough to deal with Jude its him.” 

“What’s his name?” 

“Cardan Greenbriar.”


	3. The Perfect Candidate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So, a few things... First of all, I want to preface that I'm not going to make this exactly like the movie. Cardan and Jude have a very unorthodox relationship and I'm not going to tamper with that for the sake of a rom-com AU. I'm going to do my best to blend the story elements with their characters. So there's that. Second, I'm really tapping into my inner early 2000s high school movies tropes, because well it is a high school AU and what's that without cliques and a little bit of teenage angst? Also, I hope you like the way I wrote Cardan, I wanted to find a way to blend his fashion sense and usage of makeup from the books with an angry teenager so thus, emo David Bowie was born. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. :)
> 
> Updated Note: It's finals season at school, so this fic will probably be sitting still for about two weeks, but don't panic! I'm not abandoning it, I just actually have to own up to my responsibilities as a student lmao.

When the weird short kid approached him about Jude Duarte, Locke had wanted to laugh. In fact, he had laughed, and for a while too. There was absolutely no way he’d ever be willing to deal with that crazy bitch, that was, until he mentioned that it came with getting to Taryn. Locke had to admit, he liked a challenge, and getting with Taryn seemed exactly like the type of thing that’d interest him. So, Locke had agreed, claiming his old friend Cardan owed him (he didn’t) and that he’d definitely find a way to get him to ask Jude out (he had no idea how he was going to do that other than good old-fashioned bribery). 

Gym class was held outside on the track, and Locke took that as the perfect opportunity to approach Cardan. He wasn’t really sure what to think of Cardan nowadays. They’d all been friends when they were kids because of their parents, but after Cardan’s father died and he started staying with his older brother, he’d become a reclusive asshole. He wasn’t particularly hard to find, he was dressed in the standard black on black on black, and smoking by the bleachers.

“Cardan,” Locke greeted once he reached the bleachers.

Cardan glanced at Locke, looking severely bored. Locke noticed that what looked like day-old eyeliner ringed his eyes. Dear God, what happened to this guy?

“Locke, old friend. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Cardan asked sarcastically. 

Locked leaned back on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I have a proposition for you.” Cardan only raised an eyebrow in response. Locke took that as a sign to continue, and he cleared his throat before starting again. “Alright, so you know Taryn Duarte?” 

“I’ve heard of the name.” 

“Yeah, well, she’s super-hot and I’m trying to get a date with her. Only issue is that her crazy dad has this rule about dating. She can’t date unless her sister does.” Vague recognition lit Cardan’s eyes, and Locke could see the wheels turning. Before he could protest, Locke continued on. “So, I’m thinking, I shell out $50 for you to take her batshit sister somewhere for the night, so that way we both win.” 

“By both win you mean you get lucky in the back of your Mustang and I narrowly avoid first-degree murder?” Cardan asked. 

So, it seemed he was familiar with Jude. 

“Oh, come on, she’s not that bad…” Locke defended weakly. 

“Tell that to Valerian’s nose, and dick.” 

“Ok yeah, but Valerian was being a prick.” 

Cardan sized up Locke for a long moment and eventually shook his head. “Your cause is noble, but alas it’s not worth my head. I know Jude, and quite frankly, I can’t stand her.” 

“What if I paid you double?” 

Cardan looked at Locke in shock, “You’d pay me $100 to take out some chick?” 

Locke shrugged, “I like to stir things up a little.” 

Cardan leaned back against the bleachers and took a long drag off his cigarette. Eventually, he looked back to Locke and sighed. 

“Alright, $100 for one date.” 

Locke grinned, “I knew you’d do it.” 

~

Soccer practice had gone better than she’d anticipated. After last week, she was sure that Coach Mog was going to bench her for the season, but today things had gone business as usual, and Coach Mog hadn’t said a word about her outburst. She was grabbing her bag from the benches that lined the soccer field, when a shadow fell over her. She glanced up and wanted to groan. Of all the people she wanted to see today, Cardan Greenbriar was super not on that list. 

“Hello, Jude.” 

Jude glared at him, “Is there a reason you’re blocking my way to the locker rooms?” 

Cardan leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms over his tattered Dark Side of the Moon t-shirt, “Maybe I just wanted to speak to a pretty girl.” 

Jude snorted, “Yeah sure, and I’m gonna be the next Queen of England.” She shoved past him, but he was undeterred. It only took seconds for him to catch up to her, and there he was, blocking her way again. 

“I think you’d make an excellent Queen, but that’s not why I’m here.” 

Jude huffed, “Can you please hurry this up? I’m supposed to be in chem in twenty minutes.” 

“Go out with me this Friday,” he said simply. 

Jude actually laughed out loud, “What?” 

“Yeah, I’ll pick you up at nine.” 

She only shook her head and shoved past him again, “As if there’s a world where I’d _ever_ go out with _you_ ,” she spat. Thankfully, this time he didn’t follow her, and she made it to the locker rooms without anyone else she loathed attempting to ask her out. 

~

It’d been two days since the Roach had made his arrangement with Locke, and to his knowledge, Jude was still date-less, which meant Taryn was still off the table. Thankfully though, through some stroke of luck, Garett realized that he had algebra with Taryn, and just as fate would have it, she needed a tutor. It was the one time in his life he found himself grateful for a math class. 

They were supposed to meet in the library after classes had ended, and Garett had gotten there twenty minutes early to make sure that everything was ready. She finally made it, after fifteen more minutes of Garett waiting around and falling into a pit of anxiety. She was wearing another sundress today; this one was white with red flowers on it. It temporarily deprived him of any thought other than “wow she’s pretty”.

“Are you Garett?” She asked. Her voice was soft and melodic. Nothing like her sister’s grating rasp. Yes, Garett had been unfortunate enough to witness Jude’s meltdown at soccer practice last week. 

“Yes, I am. You’re Taryn?” He asked, trying to keep his voice level. 

“Yeah that’s me,” she tossed her bag down onto the table, and sat down in her chair. She already looked bored. 

“Ok, so what are you having the most trouble with?” He asked, trying to remember that his teacher had actually asked him to do this and he couldn’t spend the entire forty-five minutes just staring at her. 

To his surprise, Taryn actually knew her stuff. She’d immediately shifted into all business mode and had explained what she struggled with and what she thought was easy. It took all of twenty minutes to correct her homework, and Garett found himself regretting that things had been able to move so quickly. 

“So, I guess we’ll meet again next week?” Garett asked once they finished. 

Taryn nodded, “Yeah, but I’m not leaving just yet. I have to wait for Jude to finish up making up a test or something.” 

In that moment, Garett saw a golden opportunity. If he could get Taryn to talk about Jude, then maybe he could figure out how to get that Caden guy or whatever his name was to persuade her to go out with him. 

He cleared his throat, “Jude’s your sister, right?” 

Taryn rolled her eyes and dropped her chin onto her hand, “Yeah, but she’s so difficult to deal with sometimes. Our dad has this crazy rule about dating, I can’t date until she can, right? Well, yesterday she comes in, raging about how some guy had the “audacity” to ask her out, and I just wanted to hit her! I can’t believe she couldn’t suck it up for one Friday night so that I could do something fun.” 

Garett tried to think of what to say without giving away what he and the Roach had done. He didn’t think saying “hey I paid someone to take out your sister so I can ask you out” would go over very well. “Well, you know, maybe she just needs to meet the right person.” 

Taryn scoffed, “If by right person you mean totally insane then yeah.” 

“Well, hold on, what’s Jude into?” 

She exhaled and picked at her pink polished nails, “I’m not really sure. We don’t talk as much as we used to. But I know she really likes books, she’s super big into feminist writing and stuff. She also likes angry girl music.” 

“Angry girl music?” 

“Yeah you know, stuff like Bikini Kill, Janis Joplin, The Donnas… those cats.”

“Interesting…” Garett said carefully. He thought more about what she said and was struck with a sudden thought. “You don’t think she’s you know..." 

Taryn’s head snapped up, “You mean a lesbian?” 

Garett nodded, and felt his face flush with heat at Taryn’s deadpan response. 

Taryn shook her head, “No, I mean she could be into girls, but I know she likes boys. She used to have a crush on this guy from some band she listened to. I always thought it was weird, but I guess she’s just into that whole guys in skinny jeans thing.” 

“Well, that’s something I guess,” he paused before finally asking the million dollar question, “Do you really think she wants to just, be alone her whole life?” 

Taryn stopped to think for a minute before answering. She picked at her nails again before coming to a dead stop and grinning. “No, she doesn’t.” 

“How do you know?” 

“Once I found black underwear in her clothes. Oriana mixed up our laundry a lot.” 

“And that means something?” Garett asked, genuinely confused. 

Taryn stared at him for a long minute as if he’d just asked if the sky was purple. “You don’t buy black lingerie unless you want someone to see it.” 

“Oh,” he said quietly. He felt his face heating up again and tried to push back the images that’d surfaced in his head. “Alright, well, I’ve gotta head out but we’ll meet again next week. I hope things work out though, with Jude and the dating and stuff.” 

Taryn smiled at him and waved, “See you later, Garett.” 

As he left the library, he texted the Roach. 

_Figured out how to help your guy convince Jude._

The reply came back moments later. 

_Great. Meet me at Moren’s tonight. It’s the bar near Mainstreet._

Garett didn’t think about asking why they needed to meet at a bar. He was too excited about the prospect of getting to ask Taryn out. 

_Ok_

Hours later though, standing in the entrance of Moren’s, Garett wished he’d asked more questions. It looked like every dive bar he’d ever seen in those grungy movies where the hero always gets into a bar fight. People were packed to the walls, drinking and yelling and over all being rowdy and frightening. 

“Why are we here again?” Garett asked, 

“Because, your guy comes here. If you want him to ask out Jude, you gotta tell him how.” 

Garett wanted to run away as fast as he could and never turn back. “You mean we’re gonna talk to him?” 

Roach nodded, “Yep. Come on, he’ll be this way.” He led Garett through the endless throng of people until they finally stopped at a pool table. To Garett’s shock, and dismay, their “guy” was the guy he’d seen coming into the counselor’s office on his first day at Elfhame. He was still dressed in all black, the only color coming from his Pink Floyd t-shirt. His shaggy black hair hung in loose ringlets around his face, and it looked like he was wearing eyeliner. Garett pulled the Roach back and stared at him incredulously. 

“This is the guy? Seriously?” 

The Roach smirked, “I told you. Emo David Bowie.” 

Garett could only stare, wondering how in the hell they were going to be able to pull this off. The Roach however, had no such qualms, and walked right up to him as if they’d been friends all their lives. 

“Cardan,” the Roach greeted. 

Cardan turned and looked down, though he didn’t seem displeased to see the Roach. 

“Ah, Roach, what are you doing here? I didn’t think this was your scene.” 

Garett could hear that the guy had a faint accent, though he couldn’t place it. 

“Eh, well you gotta change things up. Look, I need to talk to you for a second. It’s about your deal with Locke.” 

Cardan stiffened, “How do you know about that?” 

“’Cause I set it up. You see, he- “ he pointed at Garett, “Wants to ask out Jude’s sister. But the rule, so we were the ones that arranged this whole paying to take out Jude thing.” 

Cardan raised an eyebrow, “Really now? That is interesting.” 

“I think we’ve done alright so far. Now, Garett apparently has some insider information on how to woo Jude.” 

Cardan scowled, “Don’t ever say ‘woo’ to me again, man.” 

The Roach raised his hands in defense, “Alright, alright, don’t get your leather in a twist. Just listen to Garett.” 

Garett stepped up, he tried not to be intimidated by Cardan, but it was failing. Miserably. “Ok, yeah, so uh- apparently she likes to read, she’s into girl music like the Donnas and Bikini Kill, and uh you should probably stop smoking. Taryn said she hates smokers.” 

Cardan rolled his eyes and leaned against the pool table, “So what I’m supposed to listen to pissed off girls sing and take her to a bookstore?” 

Garett shrugged, “I don’t know. Taryn seems to think she’s not completely opposed to dating though, so I mean you probably have a shot.” 

“What makes you say that?” 

Garett flushed and tried to figure out how to phrase it best. Finally, after an uncomfortable moment of the Roach and Cardan staring at him, he sighed, “So, she has black underwear.” 

The Roach looked horribly confused, but Cardan seemed to catch on. “Oh really?” 

Garett nodded, “Yeah, so there’s that.” 

“Well then,” Cardan grabbed his drink and swirled it around thoughtfully, “I guess there is some incentive to do this after all.”


	4. A Development in the Case

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Like I said, finals were a bitch, but they're over now and I can get back to writing. I really like this chapter, it finally gave me a sense of direction for how I'm going to build on their relationship. I decided to make Jude a drummer because she's got so much pent up anger I think she'd be great at letting it out on drums.

Jude was at the music store. She’d been trying for months to get ahold of a new pair of drumsticks, but it seemed like every time she had an opportunity to go, something held her back. But she was here now and made it out with new sticks and a new CD she’d been wanting. It was a Saturday afternoon, and she was supposed to go pick up Taryn from Nicasia’s in a few hours. 

She was too busy making sure the cashier had given her all of her change back to notice the black-clad figure leaning against her car. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” a cool voice drawled. 

Jude’s head snapped up and she huffed out a sigh, “Christ, are you stalking me now?” 

Cardan shook his head, “Relax, I don’t have that kind of time to spare. I was in the neighborhood; saw your car and thought I’d say hello.” 

Jude shoved past him and tossed the bag into her car, “Well, you’ve said your hello, now get off my car.” 

“Wait, wait, wait you haven’t heard what I have to say,” Cardan pressed. Jude looked him up and down and rolled her eyes. It was a typical get-up for Cardan, the black jeans with the Madonna t-shirt and assortment of rings on his fingers, but on anyone else it would’ve looked ridiculous. 

“What do you have to say, Cardan?” Jude asked. She had the same tone of voice that she used when she spoke to Oak when he was being particularly difficult. 

“I still think you should go out with me,” he said smugly. 

Jude could only image the look of disgust on her face, “Seriously? This again?” 

“Give me one good reason we shouldn’t go out together.” 

“Would you like those reasons in a formal presentation or faxed to you at a later date? Cardan, you are the last person on Earth I’d want to go out with.” 

Cardan didn’t seem fazed by her declaration of loathing; in fact, he was smirking. “You’re really not scared of me, are you?” 

Jude looked at him in confusion, “Why on Earth would I be afraid of you?” 

He shrugged, “Most people are.” 

“Well, I’m certainly not.” 

He smirked at Jude, “Maybe so, but I know you’ve thought about me naked.” 

Jude felt indignant rage wash over her, but instead of yelling she just decided to roll with it. She gasped dramatically, “Am I really that transparent? I want you; I need you, oh baby, oh baby.” She was grumbling by the end of her false declaration of lust and jerked the car door open.

Cardan seemed genuinely thrown by that, and he threw his hands up before walking away from her car. She slammed her car door shut and checked her mirrors. To her dismay, that asshole Locke had pulled up behind her. 

“Hey Jude,” Locke greeted. He put his car in park and sauntered out, looking like the spoiled rich kid that he is. 

Jude groaned, and smacked her hands against the steering wheel, “Move your car you prick!” 

“I will, when I’m done shopping,” Locke said easily. 

Jude glared at him as deeply as she could and threw her car into reverse. The next thing she knew, she’d floored it right back into Locke’s brand-new Mustang. 

Locke came tearing out of the store, his sunglasses askew on his face. “What the fuck, Jude!” He screeched. 

Cardan was still standing off to the side, though he was bent over with laughter. Jude felt a strange sort of pride in what she’d done, and she couldn’t give a shit less what happened to Locke’s car. 

She made sure Locke got a perfect view of her innocent grin before she shrugged, “Oops.” 

~

“What is the matter with you! My insurance does not cover teenage drama!” Madoc roared. He’d been screaming at Jude for the past thirty minutes over her little episode with Locke and his car. 

“Madoc come on, he totally deserved it. That’s the asshole that keeps trying to get into Taryn’s pants remember?” 

Madoc twitched at that, but continued on his tirade. “Don’t try to change the subject, regardless of who he is you shouldn’t have done that.” 

Jude huffed and leaned back into her couch, “I’m sorry alright?” 

Before Madoc could answer though, the front door slammed shut. Taryn stomped in, followed closely by a tired looking Oriana and a curious Oak. 

“What the hell Jude!” Taryn yelled. 

“Language!” Oriana scolded. 

Taryn, feeling brave in her rage, glared at Oriana before rounding back onto Jude. “Why did you do that to Locke’s car!” 

“Because he deserved it.” 

“Oh my God you total freak! No one is ever going to speak to me again all because you’re batshit crazy!” 

“Language!” Oriana scolded again, this time louder. 

Taryn bit her lip and took a deep breath before starting again, “I just cannot believe the way that you are sometimes, I really can’t Jude.” 

Jude looked up at her twin sister and felt a twinge of sadness. Once they were so close, that they could imitate each other, and it would take days for Madoc and Oriana to catch on. Now, there’s no way in hell they could ever pull that off again. 

“Well, that makes two of us Taryn.” 

Taryn stomped her foot again and took off upstairs in a fit of rage. Jude felt a tap at her knee and she looked down to see Oak’s large eyes watching her carefully. “Why is Taryn mad at you?” 

Jude shook her head, “I’ll tell you when you’re older buddy.” She ruffled Oak’s hair and he shot her a toothy grin. 

~

Locke was pissed. No, pissed was an understatement. He was absolutely seething. He stomped through the halls and finally came to a screeching halt in front of Cardan. 

“What the hell man?” Locke demanded. 

Cardan looked at him as if he’d grown a second hand, “I’m sorry?” 

“Jude! I paid you to take her out, not have her trash my ride!” 

Cardan held up his hands, “Hey look I tried ok! Jude hates me, that’s that. But, the car thing, now that was actually kind of hilarious.” 

Locked glared at Cardan, “Fuck off dude. Come on, there’s gotta be something you can do. Like, try to convince her to go to Nicasia’s party next weekend.” 

“You think Jude Duarte would willingly go to a party thrown by Nicasia?” 

“Maybe? Just ask, come on. I’ll pay you another $100,” Locke pleaded. 

Cardan rolled his eyes, “What is with this Taryn chick? She like the best lay in the school or something?” 

“That’s what I’m trying to find out, come on man.” 

Cardan shrugged, “Fine. Whatever, I’ll try to convince Jude to go to the party.” 

“Thank you,” Locke sighed. He pushed the wad of bills into Cardan’s hands before taking off back into the crowded halls of the school. 

~

Cardan had to admit, being paid to take someone out kind of left a bad taste in his mouth. He knew of his reputation, and yeah, he was an asshole, but he wasn’t sure if doing something this sadistic was excusable. Then he remembered it was Jude Duarte and he didn’t feel as bad. It wasn’t that he hated Jude, in fact when they were in middle school, he’d had an embarrassingly hardcore crush on her, but then she became hateful and combative and that was too much for anyone to handle. Not to mention the time she publicly humiliated him when they were fifteen. That’d really fucking sucked. 

So that’s how Cardan ended up at one of Jude’s favorite night-clubs, trying to see if she was there. The new kid, Garett, had told him she had tickets to a concert here and had persuaded him to try to talk to her there. Cardan wove his way through the throng of people, and finally spotted Jude towards the front of the crowd. For once, she wasn’t glaring or scowling, she was actually laughing and dancing. It was a good look on her.

He moved to the bar and decided to wait there until he could figure out what to say now. At some point, he’d actually decided that maybe he actually wanted to try at this, maybe because it was challenging or maybe because that embarrassing crush on Jude wasn’t ancient history after-all. It turned out though, that he didn’t have as much time as he’d anticipated to figure out a speech because Jude was now at the bar, ordering something for her and her friend. She hadn’t noticed him at first, but just as he sat his glass down, she glanced his way. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked, though her voice lacked its usual bite. 

Cardan shrugged, “Enjoying the music.” 

Jude looked at him incredulously, “You like Bikini Kill?” 

“Do you mind? I’m trying to listen!” Cardan yelled over the music. He hated to admit it, but the band wasn’t bad. The singer definitely did not give a fuck what anyone thought or said, and he respected that. 

Jude looked taken aback but didn’t push anymore. She grabbed her waters and shot one last look at Cardan before wading back into the crowd. By the time the first few songs finished, she and her friend with the white braids had made their way towards the back of the crowd. Cardan left the bar and moved to stand next to Jude. 

“You know, you look good when you’re not threatening people,” he commented. 

Jude looked up at him and narrowed her eyes, “So you’re watching me dance now?” 

Cardan shrugged, “Maybe so.” 

Jude scrunched her face up in annoyance, but she didn’t immediately tell him to fuck off. Maybe she was drunk or something. 

“Go to Nicasia’s party with me on Friday,” Cardan said finally. 

Jude looked at him carefully and shook her head, just as he thought she was going to answer, the music started again. 

“Is that a no?” He asked, wondering where her usual hatred towards him had gone. 

Jude kind of smirked, “No!” she called over the music. She was making her way towards the front and Cardan had to shout over the noise. 

“So, it’s a yes!?” 

Jude laughed at that, “No!” Her friend pulled her to the front and Cardan lost sight of her. He wasn’t sure if she’d decided she wanted to go to a party or rejected him and they’d just misunderstood each other. But regardless, he felt like he might be able to give this one last shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S Cardan's shirt is the Like a Virgin cover, I love that shirt I think it's absolutely fitting for Cardan. Also, for the concert I didn't want to use the same band from the movie and Bikini Kill just seemed to fit. I think Jude would vibe with Kathleen Hanna but that's just me.


	5. Life of the Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I'm SO incredibly sorry it took so long to get this posted. I went home for break and had a dire family emergency and that took up most of my time. I haven't forgotten about this story though and I am determined to finish it! In any case, here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Thanks again for reading! Comments and kudos always appreciated.  
> Also, Lily is the Bomb, "lily" is short for Lilliver.

When she made it back to Lily, her friend was looking at her in mild shock. 

“Were you just speaking to Cardan?” She asked. 

Jude nodded and handed Lily her water. 

“Willingly?” Lily asked, her voice reaching a brand-new octave. 

Jude rolled her eyes, “Yes, I think I agreed to go to Nicasia’s party with him.” 

Lily’s eyes were bugging out of her skull. “Are you serious? I thought you hated him!” 

Jude laughed at that, “Oh no I still totally hate him, but for whatever reason he’s hellbent on going out with me so if I do this, it gets him off my back and Taryn will stop hating me because she’ll be allowed to go too.” 

Lily nodded, her white braids swinging around her like a curtain, “Alright, I get your motives, but I still don’t trust it.” 

Just as Jude was going to argue her case further, the band walked back onto the stage and the crowd erupted into excited screams. Instead, she just took a drink of her water and tried to distract herself from the fact that she’d actually kind of agreed to go out with Cardan. 

~

Friday night rolled around, and Jude had already thought about cancelling twice. She could do it; she knew Taryn would be able to find Cardan’s number with ease and that she could just text him and tell him to fuck off. But for some reason, she decided to push through and see what happened. She blamed it on Taryn’s constant whining. Yeah, that seemed like a good enough excuse.

The door to her bedroom was wide open, which meant she could hear Taryn trying to sneak down the steps, which was immediately followed by a disgruntled Madoc. 

“Just where do you think you’re going?” 

“Nicasia’s party?” Taryn said hopefully. She couldn’t see her sister’s face, but she knew she as pulling the infamous kicked puppy face. 

“Absolutely not.” 

“But Madoc, come on! It’s Nicasia!” Taryn whined

Jude huffed and took one last glance in the mirror before deciding to make her grand appearance downstairs. She hadn’t put a lot of effort into her look, she just braided back her hair to keep it out of her face and put on a t shirt with Janis Joplin on it. She shrugged, and then turned to make her way down the steps and come to Taryn’s rescue. Taryn was explaining for the fifteenth time about how unfair it was that Madoc wouldn’t let her go to the party when Jude’s feet hit the landing. 

“Bye, I’m going to Nicasia’s party,” Jude said in passing. She assumed Taryn had already arranged a ride despite knowing she’d have to fight Madoc tooth and nail to go. She didn’t wait for Madoc to lecture her or Taryn to thank you for her generosity and threw open the front door. 

Unfortunately, Cardan was there. 

“Don’t look so surprised, it’s 9:30 after all,” he said easily. 

Jude huffed, “Whatever, I’m driving.” 

Cardan held up his hands in surrender “As you wish.” 

~

Nicasia’s house seemed more like a castle. It was settled in one of the richest suburbs in their area, and pretty much dominated the entire neighborhood. Kids were already all over the place, in the yard, on the balcony, even on the roof. The music was playing so loud that the windows appeared to be shaking, all seven-hundred of them. 

“I believe the party is inside of the house, Jude,” Cardan said from beside her. 

Jude scowled at Cardan but moved inside of the house anyway. It was packed to the walls with drunken teenagers yelling and singing and dancing and flirting. She thought she caught sight of the new kid that’d been tutoring Taryn in math and his weird friend. She wove through the crowd, not bothering to check if Cardan was following her, and went straight for the punchbowl. If she was going to a party, might as well indulge in the full party experience. She didn’t miss the shocked glances of her peers when she dunked a solo cup into the oversized bowl filled with fruity liquor. 

“You’re diving right in I see,” Cardan said. He’d followed her after all and was leaning against the kitchen counter. She finally stopped long enough to take in what he looked like and she fought the urge to find the nearest bottle of vodka and down it all in one go. He looked like David Bowie’s personal stylist had come to his home and dressed him. For some reason there was too much glitter for Jude’s liking on his person, and he was definitely wearing eye makeup. She half-heartedly realized that it didn’t look bad on him per se, but she didn’t want to acknowledge that. 

“You look ridiculous,” Jude said snidely. 

“And you look like a homeless lumberjack,” Cardan shot back. “But, let’s at least attempt to make it through the evening without killing each other.” 

Jude rolled her eyes, “Fine.” She dunked her cup back into the bowl and turned on her heel to head back into the fray of the party.

It was 11:30 and she was four cups in. She knew she was a little drunk, that much was evident but who cared. She’d lost Cardan about fifteen minutes ago, she thought she saw him talking to Taryn’s tutor, but she didn’t care enough to ask. 

“Who would’ve thought that the infamous Jude Duarte would show at a party like this?” Locke said in a mocking tone. He looked Jude up and down which made her extremely uncomfortable, and smirked. “Are you drunk, Duarte?” 

“No,” Jude said, but her speech was a little too slow and a little too drawn out for her to seem convincing. 

“I don’t believe you,” Locke said. 

“Just shut the fuck up Locke,” she said. Suddenly, through her drunken haze, she registered that Taryn was nowhere to be seen. She figured she’d be attached to this guy at the hip. “Where’s my sister?” 

Locke waved his hand dismissively, “She was boring me.” 

“What?” Jude asked sharply. 

“Yeah, I lost interest. She left, haven’t seen her since.” 

There were a few things that Jude knew about alcohol. One was that it made you woozy and not entirely in control of your actions, and two that there were several different kinds of drunks. Sad drunks, horny drunks, lonely drunks… but apparently, she was an angry drunk. Before she could fully register what she was doing, she reared back and tossed her entire drink into Locke’s face. 

“What the fuck Jude!? This is designer!” Locke screeched. He was looking at his shirt in panic, as if it’d just caught fire. 

At that moment, Nicasia turned the corner to see punch splattered all over the pristine white walls of her mansion. “What is this? Oh my god, my mom is going to kill me!” she wheeled around to Jude, “Did you do this?” 

“Maybe,” Jude slurred. Her vision had started to get fuzzy at the edges and her head was pounding. 

“Hey, hey what’s going on? I left for five minutes, Jude.” Cardan said, shoving past the small crowd that’d gathered to see Jude and Locke’s fight. 

“Your girlfriend is a bitch that’s what!!” Locke yelled. 

“He is NOT my boyfriend!” Jude snapped indignantly, at the same exact time that Cardan shrugged lazily and said, “I don’t think we’re there just yet.” 

Nicasia glared at Jude with a renewed hatred, “Just get out of my house.” 

“With pleasure,” Jude sneered. She turned around and shoved past Cardan and the other bystanders and made her way to Nicasia’s front door. It took her too long to find her car and when she did find it, she spent another ten minutes struggling with the keys. 

“Jude, you can’t drive home like that,” Cardan said, coming up behind her. 

Jude turned, “Don’t tell me what I can or can’t do!” 

It seemed that he’d finally had enough. 

“Why do you hate me so badly?” Cardan finally asked. 

“Probably the same reason that you hate me so badly!” Jude snapped. She leaned against her car, knowing full well that she couldn’t drive home in her drunken state. 

“I think if anyone here has a right to hate someone, I have a right to hate you. You humiliated me publicly,” Cardan said. Outwardly he seemed calm, but Jude knew better. He was fighting the urge to scream and yell and pull his hair out. 

“I only did that because you constantly made my life hell! You were always fucking with me or my stuff or helping your friends concoct rumors about me and spreading them like wildfire. Have you forgotten the time you paid off our bio teacher to purposely fail me on a test?!” Jude shouted. She could feel how flushed her face was, and she was breathing hard. She hadn’t been this angry in a long time. 

“So that gives you the right to announce to the entire school that my mother had an affair with the superintendent and had lied to me about who my father was for my whole life?” Cardan yelled. 

Jude’s stomach turned at that. She remembered that she’d needled Madoc endlessly for any sort of dirt on Cardan and his family and when he realized that if he didn’t give it, she’d go looking for herself, he finally told her the real story of Cardan’s family. They were only fifteen, and maybe she had taken it too far. But at the same time, Cardan was not innocent either. 

“Yes, it does! Because you were horrible! You would throw papers at me in classes and constantly graffiti my locker and spearheaded smear campaigns against both me and Taryn!” 

“Maybe I did that because I wanted your attention!” 

“That’s the lamest fucking excuse in the world Cardan, I assumed you could do better,” Jude snapped. When Cardan didn’t immediately retaliate, she kept going, “Even if it were true, you think harassment is the way to get a girl to notice you? Jesus Christ, we’re not children! If you like someone you don’t toss sand into their eyes on the playground anymore just fucking tell them!” 

Neither of them said anything after that. Despite the racket coming from inside the house, Jude could feel an uneasy silence between them. After moments of tension Cardan finally sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “At least let me drive you home. My car is at your place anyway.” 

“Fine,” Jude said. There wasn’t much venom behind it. She handed over her keys and climbed into the passenger’s side. The entire fifteen-minute drive back to her home was spent in awkward silence. Jude had been running their conversation back through her mind over and over and over again trying to make sense of what Cardan had been saying. She wanted to blame her conflicted feelings on the alcohol, but she knew that was a total lie. But hey, lying is what she did best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to think of a way to put the reasons that Jude and Cardan hated each other into a modern context. To be completely frank, I had no idea what I was going to do when Cardan mentioned she'd publicly humiliated him last chapter, but I like where I went with it. I hope it seemed legit.


	6. The Truth Hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Ok, so I'm not going to admit I had a hard time with this chapter because I knew I didn't want to model the movie for this section of the story, and I actually wanted Jude to be the one to apologize. I'm not as happy with it as the other chapters, but I think this gives me a good foundation for the rest of the story and I am excited about that. As usual thank you for kudos and comments! I'm so glad you're liking it!

Garrett was having a miserable time. Roach had left him an hour ago to go hang out with some girl, and Taryn was somewhere glued to Locke’s side. It’d been apparent from the first fifteen minutes of being at the party that Taryn was completely enamored with Locke and would most likely never give Garrett the time of day. The only mild comfort was the somewhat apathetic encouragement Cardan had given him when Garrett had pulled him aside to tell him the whole thing was off. 

“I’m sorry what?” 

“Yeah,” Garrett sighed, “Look man I’m sorry, I just- it’s not worth it. I’m sure Roach will deal with Locke and then all of this will be over with. At least they paid you in advance.” 

Cardan just stared at him in confusion for about thirty seconds before rolling his eyes, “I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be scolding someone for being melodramatic, but you sir, are being extremely melodramatic.”

“What?” 

“Do you like Taryn?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Are you a creep about it?” 

“Unless paying you to take out Jude counts then no I’m not.” 

“Then just, go for it. Stop whining and just go for it. If she rejects you, that blows but that’s why God gave us alcohol. You can drink it off and find someone else.” Garrett paused for a moment, thinking Cardan’s speech over. In some strange way he had a point. Albeit a point that could lead to a future of alcoholism but a point, nonetheless. “Look, you think it over, but I’m going to find Jude before she starts a fight,” Cardan said dismissively. 

And that had led Garrett to now. It seemed that Cardan hadn’t gotten there in time to stop Jude from trying to fight someone, and now Locke was carrying on and on and on about his cashmere sweater. He looked at his watch to see that it was a quarter to midnight, and decided it was finally time to call it quits. Just as he was about to start the impossible task of wading through the packed living room to get to the door, someone tapped on his shoulder. 

“Garrett?” 

It was Taryn. She looked embarrassed and somewhat dejected and wouldn’t exactly make eye-contact with him. 

“Hey, Taryn,” he said lamely. 

Taryn played with her hands awkwardly before finally asking, “Do you think you could give me a ride home?” 

Before he could stop himself, he snapped, “Why can’t Locke just take you?” 

Taryn’s head snapped up and she glared at him so coldly that for a second she looked exactly like her twin sister, well even more so than usual. “Because, he’s a dick and Jude left. Please?” She looked at him with wide eyes and a very well-practiced pout and he couldn’t find the will to say no. 

“Yeah, alright.” 

She smiled at him softly, “Thanks Garett.” 

~  
The next morning, when Jude woke up, her head was pounding. No, throbbing. She felt the urge to hurl but pushed it down by sheer force of will. She rolled over in bed in an attempt to block out the sunlight coming in from her window, but it only made her dizzier. Suddenly, she heard stomping coming from the hallway, and before she could pretend to be asleep her door was flying open. 

“Jude! What. The. Hell!” A shrill voice screeched. 

Jude grabbed her pillow and held it over her head, “Go away Taryn.” 

“No!” Her sister stomped over and grabbed Jude’s pillow from her hands. 

“Hey!” Jude protested. 

Taryn responded by hitting her with the pillow. “I cannot believe you! First you get drunk, then you cause a scene with Locke, somehow you managed to get Nicasia to hate me, and then you decide to have a very public fight with Cardan Greenbriar? What the FUCK Jude?” 

Jude felt like Taryn was screaming at her through a microphone that was plugged into the biggest fucking amp that they were able to make. “Can you stop screaming at me?”

“No! No, I can’t! Not to mention you just left me there!”

“I thought Locke was taking you home,” Jude responded. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and to her horror there were about fifty notifications from a mixture of Taryn, Lily, Madoc, and Cardan. 

“Well he didn’t!” 

“Why not?”

“Because he’s a major tool? I don’t know, look, what you do is your business, but could you not humiliate me for thirty seconds?” 

Jude smiled dryly at her sister, “I’ll do my best.” 

Taryn stopped simmering with hatred long enough to look pleased with her concession. Finally, she smirked down at Jude, “So, are you going to explain why you were screaming in Cardan’s face last night?” 

Jude looked up at her as if she wanted to answer, but instead quickly motioned to the door, “Go get me a bucket.” 

“What?” 

“I’m gonna puke.” 

Taryn did as she was told, and no one approached the subject for the rest of the day.

~

Monday came around, and Jude had resolved to not speak to anyone. If she didn’t speak to anyone, no one could corner her about her outburst at the party, and therefore people would eventually just let it go. She tried to seem more menacing than usual, and for a while it seemed like it was working. That is, until gym class rolled around. Coach Mog had asked them to run through their drills, and she’d been doing a stellar job. But, for a second she caught sight of a head full of black curls and a black t-shirt and she felt as if the field had been pulled out from under her feet. She hadn’t spoken to Cardan since the party. Although, she had woken up to a very eloquent _I’m sorry for fighting with you while you were drunk text_ , she hadn’t responded, and he hadn’t made another effort to communicate with her. 

In her distraction, she ended up stopping completely and another girl on the team ended up running straight into her. 

“What the hell Jude? Come on man, you’re dragging,” Fand scolded. 

Jude huffed and took off into the drill again, but she was noticeably less focused. The more she thought about this situation with Cardan, the more confused she became. Somehow, in the span of one conversation with him, she’d ended up not exactly hating his guts, but then she’d shot it all to hell by screaming at him. Not to mention, his declaration of _maybe I just wanted your attention_ was still bouncing around in her head. 

_Maybe I just wanted your attention._

“Duarte! Get your ass on the bench until you stop daydreaming long enough to get through a damn drill!” Coach Mog shouted suddenly. Jude felt her face heat up but she jogged over to the bench with what little dignity she could muster. Thankfully though, Lily was there, leaning against the back of the bench and smoking a cigarette. 

“Those things’ll kill you, you know,” Jude said. 

“We’re gonna die anyway, you know,” Lily answered. 

Jude only rolled her eyes and toweled off the sweat that was dripping down her face. 

“You’re distracted today huh?” 

“Yeah, I guess,” Jude answered in a non-committal tone.

“It’s about Cardan, right?” 

“What!?” Jude asked defensively, “Absolutely not.” 

Lily smirked, “I know when you’re lying, kiddo.” 

Jude finally huffed and realized that she was not getting out of this conversation with Lily. 

“Yeah alright, we got into a fight Friday.” 

Lily snorted, “Yeah I know, I had to stop kids from putting it on YouTube.” 

Jude groaned, “Oh, Christ.” 

“Don’t worry, it was too loud to hear what you were saying, so your sexually frustrated argument is still somewhat private.” 

Jude felt like her brain was short circuiting, “Sexually-? I- what the fuck Lily that’s so not the case.” 

“Sure, it isn’t,” Lily said easily. “What were you fighting about anyway?” 

“It’s nothing.” 

“It’s something. You’ve got your guilty face on.” 

“I do not have a guilty face!” Jude snapped. Lily shrugged and sat down on the bench next to Jude, her tye-dyed Grateful Dead t-shirt reflecting in the steel bench and making Jude’s head hurt. 

“Look, I don’t know what happened between you two, I just know what you did when we were Freshman. And before you start, no I’m not necessarily blaming you, all I’m saying is that you maybe shouldn’t have taken it that far. And maybe now that we’re seniors and for some reason Cardan seems hellbent on taking you out, maybe you should apologize.” 

“Why in hell would I apologize to him?” Jude spat. She ground her teeth together in frustration and refused to meet Lily’s gaze. 

“Because, you know deep, deep down in that tiny shriveled soul of yours that it was wrong,” Lily answered simply. When Jude didn’t answer, Lily just huffed and snuffed out her cigarette on the bench. “Look, I’m not gonna tell you what to do. And I’m not gonna judge you either way, I’m just saying, consider it.” Jude still didn’t answer, and Lily finally walked away. 

That night, when she was getting ready for bed and still ignoring how Lily’s statement had made her feel, she sat down at her desk to try and start on some homework. She was shifting through the stacks of papers when she came upon a note she’d scrawled down in one of the margins of her notebooks, and eventually torn out. 

_I told everyone, but I don’t feel better. Why don’t I feel better?_

Jude huffed and sat back in her seat. She tore the paper to shreds, but she knew that no matter how hard she tried to deny it, she had to apologize to Cardan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes this chapter title may or may not be a lizzo reference but tbh I was just struggling for a title


	7. Drastic Measures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I finally made it back, again I apologize for the delay, I just got really stuck after last chapter but now I feel back on track. I hope you like this chapter, the first part I hope doesn't seem too OOC for Jude, I just loved that scene in the movie and wanted it to make it into this part. And the latter half of this I'm really proud of, I wanted to be able to juxtapose their perspective relationships with their families from their own point of view.   
> Again, thanks for reading!! I love your comments and kudos, it gives me drive to keep writing :)

The next day, Jude went looking for Cardan for once. She thought she might be able to corner him in gym, but Coach Mog had her running extra drills to make-up for yesterday. Then she decided she’d try to talk to him during English, but of course, he skipped. By the end of the day, Jude was tired and frustrated and wondering why it was so damn hard to find someone and just apologize to them. She slammed her locker door shut, a little more forcefully than necessary, and was met with Lily’s smirking face. 

“Someone’s not happy,” she commented carefully. 

“I’m just frustrated,” Jude hesitated for a second, she knew that Lily would probably know where Cardan was, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to admit to Lily that she was going to apologize to him. Apparently, her face gave her away though and Lily started laughing. 

“It’s Cardan isn’t it?” Jude let her silence speak for her. Lily patted her sympathetically on the shoulder and motioned down the hallway with her other hand, “He’s in detention with Baphen. Got caught smoking and skipping.” 

“Wonderful,” Jude grumbled. She turned to Lily before her friend could pry anymore, “Just take Taryn home and I’ll owe you one later.” 

Her friend blinked in shock, “Wait you’re actually going to talk to him?” 

“I guess so! Just go get Taryn, please.” 

Lily didn’t answer but turned to give her a thumbs up before disappearing down the hall to find Taryn. Jude took a deep breath and marched down towards Baphen’s classroom, still completely unsure of a what she was going to do. She peeked in before fully committing and was relieved to see that it wasn’t packed to the walls today. Only a few delinquents, including Cardan. Without further hesitation, she opened the door and tried to seem as confident as possible. Though, to her mixed horror and delight, Coach Mog was there, apparently filling in for Baphen. 

“Duarte, what’re you doing?” she grunted out. 

Jude fumbled for a moment before clearing her throat, “I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming game against the Termites.” 

Mog just chuckled, “Save it for practice, kid.” She looked down at the desk to shuffle around some papers, and Jude took that as her opportunity to glance up at Cardan. He was staring at her with a mix of confusion and amusement, and she just motioned towards the window. He didn’t seem to get it, and so she just pointed harder and mouthed ‘the window dumbass’.

Unfortunately, Mog looked back up and scowled at Jude. “You’re still here?” 

Jude tried to seem relaxed, “Yeah because look, every year the Termites kick our asses and so I wanted to get a head start on a strategy to get them back,” she lied. She took a step or two closer to her coach in hopes to keep her attention away from Cardan, who’d gotten out of his seat and was heading for the back window. 

“Alright, what’s your strategy?” Mog asked, leaning against the desk and crossing her arms. 

“Distraction,” Jude blurted out. She was normally a great liar, but this was pathetic. 

“How do you plan to distract them?” 

Jude took another step closer to Mog and leaned against the desk, trying desperately to keep Mog’s eyes on her. “Misdirection. So, they’re looking one way which leaves us open to run the middle and score.” 

Coach Mog rolled her eyes, “Still doesn’t answer the question of how you plan to distract them.” 

Jude chanced a quick glance at the window to see that Cardan was only halfway out of the classroom. She wanted to kill him. Mog seemed to notice her shift in attention though, and started to turn around to see what was going on. But before she could, Jude did something she never did. 

She panicked. 

“We distract them, by doing this,” Jude deadpanned, and then proceeded to flash her soccer coach and the remaining kids in detention. 

Coach Mog only looked mildly inconvenienced, whilst the other kids had burst into whistles and giggles. She glanced back to see Cardan had cleared the window, and so she put down her shirt, mustered up her dignity and nodded to Coach Mog, all business. “Good day, Coach.” She backed out of the classroom as quickly as she could and took off towards the parking lot that the fire escape led to. 

When she made it outside, Cardan was bent over laughing. 

“Did you really just flash Coach Mog to get me out of detention?” He asked through his laughter. 

Jude fought the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it and shrugged, “Maybe I just wanted your attention.” 

That pushed everything to a screeching halt. Cardan straightened up and looked at Jude carefully, all traces of humor gone from his face. “If you’ve brought me here to kick my ass, I assure you there are far bett-“ 

“I’msorry,” Jude blurted out quickly. 

Cardan stopped dead, “What?” 

Jude took a deep breath and tried to choke out the words, “I’- I’m… sorry… for what I did. When we were freshman. It was out of line.” 

She was pretty sure that this was the only time in her life she’d ever seen Cardan speechless. He was staring at her in complete shock, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. 

“Did you just say sorry to me? I’m not being punk’d am I?” He asked somewhat hoarsely. 

“Shut-up and take it alright, I’m just trying avoid another public fight,” Jude said defensively. It was hard enough apologizing in the first place, she didn’t want to open the door on all of the other complicated feelings that arose when Cardan was involved. 

Cardan raised his hands, “Alright, alright… I accept your strangely hostile apology, Jude.” He shoved his ringed hands into the pockets of his jacket and leaned back against the wall. He paused for a moment before looking back up at Jude, “I guess I’m sorry too…” 

Jude nodded her head, “Thanks… I guess…” 

Another beat of awkward silence passed before Cardan spoke up again, “I for one, would like to eat something that isn’t the shit cafeteria food here. Care to join me?” 

Jude looked at him for a moment, taking in the ruined Sex Pistols t-shirt and excessive highlighter and day-old eyeliner, before nodding, “Sure, let’s go.” 

~

Out of everything that Cardan had expected from Locke asking him to take Jude out, her apologizing for what she did when they were Freshman was not it… at all. And then, to make matters worse, they’d ended up going to get lunch and didn’t kill each other. In fact, if he recalled correctly, Jude had smiled twice during the entire hour and a half time they were together. He counted that as a personal victory. 

He thought about telling her about what Locke had done, but selfishly, he didn’t want her to go back to hating him, not just yet. And he’d stopped taking money from him two weeks ago, claiming that what he’d already given him was enough. Locke, too caught up in his own ego, didn’t bother to question it. 

It was late, and he was in his room at his brother’s house. Thankfully, his brother was out at a party somewhere, which meant Cardan most likely wouldn’t run into him for the duration of his brief stay. He hated jumping between Balekin’s house and his Mother’s, it was nothing but boredom and tediousness. Not to mention his brother’s scathing remarks, and his mother’s severe disinterest in anything he ever did. Sometimes, he’d just crash in his car, just to avoid it all. But now, he was here at Balekin’s staring up at the ceiling and thinking about Jude. This wasn’t anything new, he’d thought about Jude since they were in the seventh grade, but now somehow it felt more serious, more important. It felt like there was finally something there, but at any given moment in time it could shatter into pieces. 

Resolving to think about it in the morning, he decided to grab a bottle of wine from Balekin’s many stores and watch whatever was trending on Netflix. 

~  
When she arrived back at her house, Vivi was there and it looked like she’d brought Heather too. As soon as she opened the door, she heard the screaming chaos that was her home. Oriana was chasing a wild Oak, who was currently streaking, no literally streaking in his underwear, through their house. It sounded like Madoc and Vivi were already exchanging words, and Taryn and Heather were making polite conversation in the dining room. 

Jude tried to shut the door carefully to avoid being heard, but Oak had already caught sight of her. 

“Jude! Vivi and Heather are here!” He said excitedly. He ran at her at top speed and knowing what came next, she immediately bent down to grab him up in her arms. 

“Are they? Well we’ll have to go see them, huh?” 

Oak nodded enthusiastically, but Jude noticed Oriana’s piercing glare from over his shoulder. She’d never liked how close she and Oak were. Never one to give in though, Jude just held on tighter to her little brother and toted him into the kitchen were Vivi and Madoc were having a heated discussion about the election. She chose to ignore them, and moved to stand with Heather and Taryn in the adjacent dining room. 

“Hey Jude! Hey little man!” Heather said sweetly. She waved at Oak and Oak waved back, flashing a toothy grin. 

Taryn only frowned, “Where are your clothes, Oak?” 

“Don’t want ‘em,” he answered simply. 

Taryn rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Jude, “So, where have you been? Lily took me home today, said you had something going on.” 

Jude tried to seem nonchalant, “Yeah, I had some stuff to do.” 

“Was this stuff Cardan?” 

Jude nearly dropped Oak, “What? No!” 

Oak pulled on her hair and frowned, “You’re being too loud.” 

Jude huffed and sat him down, and then turned her attention back to her sister. “You’re crazy, you know that right?” 

Taryn only smirked, “So then, where were you?” 

At that moment, Vivi decided to join the conversation. She sauntered over and immediately wrapped her arm around Heather’s waist and pulled her to her side in one fluid motion. “Yeah, Jude, where were you? Here I am, your loving big sister excited to finally see you, and Taryn says that you’re MIA.” 

“I had stuff,” Jude said lamely.

Taryn snickered, “Yeah, Cardan stuff.” 

Jude smacked her in the arm, but it was too late, Vivi had heard. “Cardan? Like, Cardan that you hate? The guy that you actually plotted revenge against for like a year and a half? That Cardan?” 

Jude tried to keep her face neutral, “Maybe.” 

“I knew it!” 

“Damn.” 

“Who is this again?” Heather asked. 

Heather patted her girlfriend on the shoulder, “I forget that the Great Cardan Fiasco was before your time, love. No, basically Jude and this guy she goes to school with hated each other and tried to torment the shit out of each other for years. Eventually they stopped, but Jude’s always hated him.” 

Heather quirked an eyebrow, “Interesting. And now you’re doing “stuff” with this guy?” 

Jude huffed dramatically and threw her hands up, “You know what, I don’t owe any of you an explanation. What I do is my business!” She turned on her heel and stomped to the stairs but not before she heard Taryn giggling. 

“More like who she does,” she said through her laughs. 

Jude only rolled her eyes and stomped all the way to her room. She avoided slamming the door, because that was a level that she simply would not stoop to. She tossed her bag down and flopped onto her bed, wondering when in hell everything got so weird with her life. Her and Taryn hadn’t gotten along since they were sophomores, Vivi came and went as she pleased, never bothering to text or call, and now it looked like she had… had developed feelings outside of hate and loathing for Cardan. She didn’t want to acknowledge it, she really, really didn’t. But she couldn’t deny that she’d enjoyed their time at lunch. She couldn’t deny that he was actually funny, and very smart once you made it past the flamboyant exterior, and ok it didn’t hurt that he was nice to look at. 

It was enough to make her want to scream, so she buried her head under her pillows and did just that.


	8. What Are We Moving Towards?

Truth be told, Garrett had not expected this plan to work out as well as it had. In fact, after the first time he met Cardan, he’d expected the whole thing to go nuclear by the end of the week. But, it hadn’t. There _was_ the fight at Nicasia’s party, but other than that Jude and Cardan had actually seemed to start getting along with each other. Not only were they getting along, but it seemed that Taryn had entirely dropped her infatuation with Locke and she had been requesting they shift their tutoring sessions from 45 minutes to an hour. She blamed her inability to handle Algebra, but Garrett suspected otherwise, although he never wanted to mention it for fear of ruining the tentative friendship they had struck up. 

They had just finished a session, one with very little math involved and much more conversation and laughter, when Taryn started to get fidgety. He glanced back up at her and noticed that she was biting her lip. After two months of seeing her twice a week , Garrett knew that she only bit her lip when she was uneasy. 

“You alright?” 

“Hmm?” She looked up at him and smiled tentatively “Yeah, I’m alright.” 

He nodded, “Great, well then I’ll see you next week, right?” 

At that, she noticeably deflated. “Sure, sure.” 

For some reason, she seemed annoyed at him and Garrett was wracking his brains trying to think of what he’d done to make her mad. 

“You know, I think Jude is dating Cardan now,” she said, her tone bordering on hopeful.

Garrett raised his eyebrows, “Really? Good for them.” 

Taryn finally just huffed, and a very Jude-like scowl settled on her face. She tapped her foot impatiently for a moment before glancing back up at him angrily, “You know, for someone who’s supposed to be incredibly smart, you are ridiculously dense sometimes!” She stomped out of the library at that, and Garrett was left standing there with his mouth hanging open like an idiot. 

He was an idiot. 

~

“Hold on- so you’re telling me you’ve seriously never heard of the Arctic Monkeys?” Cardan asked, visibly shocked by Jude’s declaration.

She shook her head, a crooked grin on her face, “No, I didn’t say that, I said I’ve heard of them I’ve just never actually listened to them.” 

Cardan laughed, “And here I expected you of all people to have some sort of taste in music. They have so many hits, you have to have heard of them.” 

Jude shook her head and popped another chip into her mouth, “Nope.” 

Taking it upon himself to prove that she had to have heard of one of their songs, he launched into a horrible rendition of Fluorescent Adolescent, and Jude started laughing. Not the one-off half-laughs she would give him before, an actual real laugh that put tears in her eyes and flushed her cheeks. 

“Okay! You can stop oh my god, maybe I’ve heard it before, but you can’t sing for shit,” she said through her laughter. 

If he wasn’t so entranced by her laughter and the way that the sun hit her face just so, so that it actually looked like she was glowing, he might’ve had the presence of mind to be offended. After what Cardan was beginning to think of as their Truce Lunch, he and Jude had actually started hanging out fairly often. It was still strange, interacting with her in a way that wasn’t a fight, or an elaborate scheme concocted by the other to humiliate the other person. But instead, seeing her like this, relaxed, smiling, happy even. They’d grabbed lunch from one of the many food-trucks that lined the park, at Jude’s insistence--- Cardan definitely would’ve preferred an air-conditioned restaurant, and now they were stretched out under the trees and making easy conversation. 

“I can sing, you just don’t want to admit it,” he defended. 

Jude laughed again at that and rolled over onto her back and stretched out in the sun like a cat. Her already fairly cropped t-shirt slid further up her stomach and showed off the smooth, tanned skin of her stomach. The images that came to his mind were enough to temporarily fill his brain with static.

“Alright fine, whatever. But, you’re the one that’s never seen Heathers,” Jude shot back. 

Cardan shook his head and tried to clear away the extremely compromising images that’d come to his mind, “Why in God’s name would I want to watch Heathers?” 

Jude leaned up on her elbows and stared at him, “Because a) it’s teenagers on a revenge murder spree, b) Winona Ryder which is enough said, and c) don’t take this the wrong way, but you remind me of Christian Slater in it, just like without the murder and mass psychotic-ness.” 

Cardan barked out a laugh, “Really? Fine, I’ll cut you a deal, you have to listen to music that’s good for once, and I’ll watch your mass-murder movie.” 

Jude shot him a wicked grin, “Ok, you’ve got yourself a deal, Greenbriar.” 

For a second they sat in easy silence before Cardan started talking again, “So, why do you do it?” 

Jude looked confused, “Do what?”

Cardan waved his hands lazily, “You know, the aggressive slightly off-kilter murderess persona you have.” He hoped he wasn’t stepping too far over the line, Jude could still be very touchy, and even though they had managed to make it to some sort of… well, something, they still fought. A lot. 

But, to his surprise Jude only pursed her lips and stared at the grass. For a second he didn’t think she was going to answer at all but then she started talking. “Madoc didn’t really adopt Taryn and I from a home… we told everyone that to keep everyone from asking questions, but really Madoc was our mom’s ex. After she and my dad died in an accident, he claimed us and moved us out here. We were just kids, in a new place with new people. Vivi was the only mild stability we had. But still, we were scared. Taryn handled it better, she’s always been good with people. She can fit herself into whoever she needs to be in order to be accepted by the masses, but I guess I wasn’t wired that way. After you and your friends started tormenting us, I decided to stop being afraid and get angry about it. I guess I never really stopped being angry, it was just… easier… than being afraid.” 

Immediately, several emotions hit Cardan, square in the face. He felt horrible for being part of the reason that she was scared of living here with Madoc, he felt equally pathetic and horrible for choosing to follow his former friends’ lead and torment the new girls without ever wondering what it was like to be them, and he felt shocked that Jude had willingly shared so much information about herself. She looked uncomfortable, as she normally did when she talked about herself for too long, but she also looked somewhat relieved. As if she were glad, she’d finally voiced everything out-loud to another person. 

“I-I’m sorry, Jude, that I had a hand in that. I was foolish and immature and I’m sorry,” he said, trying his best to sound sincere. He still felt like absolute shit, all of this had started after all because stupid Locke had shoved $100 into his hands and asked him to take her out so he could fuck her sister. But now, he felt even worse about it because he knew that when the truth came out, Jude would never believe he was truly sorry. She’d never trust a damn word he’d ever said or would ever say. 

But maybe, for now, he could be as earnest as possible and still have her believe him. 

She shrugged, clearly trying to make it seem like less of a big deal than it was. “So, what’s your excuse?” 

Cardan looked at her to see genuine curiosity in her face. It was strange, looking at someone and knowing they actually cared about what you had to say. He didn’t want to say anything, he wanted to lash out and walk away and leave her there, but that wouldn’t be fair to her. Not after what she’d just told him. He hesitated before finally settling on what to say, “All my life, no one close to me ever cared about what I did. My mother certainly didn’t care, even when I was a child, I think I was more of an annoyance to her than anything, and after you revealed the truth about my father, she demanded I stay with him some. He obviously didn’t care and left me to my own devices with my older half-brothers and sisters. Even when I was friends with the likes of Locke and Valerian, they never really cared about what I did, or what I had to say. They liked that I had money and was willing to follow their lead. So, as I’d done since I was a child, I decided to try for attention in any way that I could, even if it was through cruelty, it was better than being ignored.” 

He realized that he’d been digging his hands into the ground, and now his hands were covered in dirt from his aggressive decimation of the earth beneath him. Jude sat up and moved closer to him, only slightly, and she seemed genuinely upset. 

“I’m sorry that I did that. As far as we took things- that was still too out of line,” she said carefully. It was apparent she was still struggling with opening up and apologizing, but he appreciated the effort. 

“Ah, it is all in the past now, now we can only move forward,” Cardan said easily. He leaned back against the tree and watched Jude’s expression’s carefully. Her normally bright brown eyes were dark, and she looked as if she wanted to ask something but didn’t know how. Finally, after a few moments of opening her mouth and then slamming it shut so hard he heard her teeth clack, she looked back up at him. 

“What exactly are we moving towards?” She asked quietly. It was a rare moment of vulnerability. Something that was foreign to both Jude and himself. 

Cardan bit down on the inside of his cheek, he knew he should tell her. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her that it’d started because of pettiness and greed but now, something had happened between them that he wanted to keep, that he wanted to move toward. He didn’t want this to drop the second Locke got what he wanted from Taryn. In fact, he found himself wanting to beat the shit out of Locke for this, but alas he never was much good at fighting. 

“I’m not sure,” he finally said, his voice sounded rough even to his own ears, “What are we moving towards?” 

Suddenly, he was hyper-aware that Jude was close enough that he could nearly count the freckles that dotted her face like constellations. He was extremely aware that Jude looked just as confused and unsure as he did. He was also aware that Jude was leaning closer, and as if by some force he was leaning closer too. 

“Why don’t you tell me?” Jude asked, her voice was softer than he ever thought possible for her. 

It seemed that was all that he needed to tip him over the ledge. One second he was reaching up to brush her unruly brown curls out of her face, and then in the next he was kissing her with the intensity that only years of pent up feelings could cause. He felt like he was free-falling off a cliff, with only the fickle and relentless push and pull of the ocean to catch him. 

He loved it. 

Her hands were every-where, fisted in his t-shirt, in his hair, on his back. It felt like she was everywhere. As if all of his senses had been over-taken by the force of nature that was Jude. Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude.

She tried to shift her weight on her legs, but of course they just had to be on-top of the miserably uneven roots of the tree, and she went sideways before she could catch her balance, taking him down with her. His back ended up hitting the hard earth beneath them, and then she was leaning over him, breathless and grinning. 

“So,” she said, her voice was all air, “I guess that’s where we’re headed.” 

In that moment he knew that he was severely fucked. Because, there was just no way around it. He was falling in love with her. 

Fuck. 

~  
The next day, he was back at school and wondering how he was going to tell Locke that he was done playing his stupid game. If he was going to do this with Jude, it would be one his own terms, and he would tell her, really, he would. But he knew that she’d have nothing to do with him after that. Still, it was time to put Locke in his place.

“So, you tamed the shrew yet?” A snide voice asked. 

Cardan turned to see Locke leaning against the bleachers and giving him an annoyingly bright grin. 

“I’m done.” 

Locke stopped grinning, “What?” 

“I’m not playing your game anymore, it’s not fair. To either of them,” Cardan said coldly. 

Locke gave a bitter laugh, “Oh, don’t tell me you actually like Jude. Christ Jesus we all had a bet that you had a crush on her a few years back, but I didn’t expect you to give a shit.” 

Cardan didn’t acknowledge that and only shrugged, “I’m out.” 

“No, you’re not,” Locke said confidently, “Because if you are out, then someone has to tell Jude that this was all a ruse, and I don’t think she’d take too kindly to being humiliated in such a fashion.” 

Cardan counted himself a fairly calm person. It took a lot to truly enrage him, and right now in this moment, he was so angry that it was a wonder he hadn’t murdered Locke where he stood. 

“Don’t you dare tell her a thing, I was the one stupid enough to play into your games, I will be the one to tell her,” Cardan growled at Locke. 

The other boy just raised his hands in mock surrender, “No need to get all worked up, and look I don’t need you for much longer anyway. Just take her to prom, so that I can take Taryn, and then you’re done. And who knows? After everything she may just never find out. So, if you really like her, and I think you do which is truly pathetic, you can just keep up the lie. She never need know how it all started.” He clapped Cardan on the shoulder as he walked away, and all Cardan could do was bang his head into his locker in frustration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this one! I think we're about to wrap everything up, and though it got a little off-script from my original intention of keeping it as close to 10 Things as possible, I'm really pleased with the direction its taken. As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. :)


	9. Being Stubborn is Not a Virtue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the delay in updates, school is insane. To be honest, I don't really like this chapter, but I'm trying to keep it in line with the events of the movie. I never liked how in the movie Kat exploded when dude asked her to prom, but I do feel like Jude would get very suspicious and very skeptical and lash out because of that. I hope that this is entertaining and I promise the next few chapters should be a lot more fun. Again, thanks for your comments and kudos!

Jude was studying in her bedroom, with her headphones in and entirely immersed in her chem assignments, when Taryn burst into her room and tore the headphones off of her head. 

“Taryn! What the fuck!” Jude exclaimed. She smacked Taryn in the stomach, but her twin was completely unfazed. 

“Why didn’t you tell me!” Taryn demanded, her voice a strange mix between playful and accusatory. 

“Tell you what?” Jude shot back. Taryn sat down across from her on her bed and grinned at her wickedly. She was playing with Jude’s headphones in her hands, and Jude was already severely annoyed at the situation. 

“So, you know how Vivi and Heather have been back in town right?” Taryn started carefully. 

“Yes…?” Jude answered, unsure of what _she_ had to do with Vivi and her girlfriend. 

“Apparently, the other day, they’d decided to get some fresh air, take a walk in the park…” Taryn said lightly. She waited a second before the implications of her statement set in. 

Jude immediately buried her face in her hands, “Oh my GOD,” she lamented. 

Taryn cackled, actually _cackled_ , like the Wicked Witch of the West. “Yeah, according to Vivi your tongue was pretty much down Cardan’s throat.” 

At that, Jude grabbed her notebook and smacked Taryn in the arm. “Shut the fuck up!” 

Taryn only made a face at her sister, “Aww, does the soulless, heartless Jude actually have feelings?” 

Jude continued her assault on Taryn with her notebook until her sister finally held up her hands up in surrender and laughed, “Alright, chill! Look, I just wanted to talk to you about it.” Jude looked at her sister suspiciously. Then she noticed how Taryn was still playing with her headphones and bouncing with nervous energy. 

She wanted something. 

“What do you want?” 

Taryn looked offended, “I didn’t say I wanted anything!” 

“But you were about to, look just cut to the chase,” Jude said, exasperation clear in her voice. 

Taryn hesitated a moment before finally meeting Jude’s eye, “So, now that you have a boyfriend-“ 

“He’s not my boyfriend.” 

Taryn huffed, “Alright fine, now that you have Cardan- whatever that means, I was just gonna see if you were gonna go to prom.” 

Jude immediately laughed and shook her head, “Are you kidding? Absolutely not. It’s an over-glorified mating ritual, used for teenagers to go and show-off and then fuck in a cheap motel after.” 

Taryn wrinkled her nose, “Do you have to be so crude about it?” 

Jude only shrugged, “It’s just the truth.” 

Taryn visibly deflated and took to picking at the flower-covered quilt on Jude’s bed. It’d been a gift from her mother before she passed, now it was one of the only things Jude had of her. 

“Stop picking at that,” she scolded. Taryn looked back up at Jude with wide doe eyes. It suddenly struck her just how different she and Taryn were. They were twins and yet somehow, they were complete polar opposites, even in their appearances. Taryn had always seemed to be so soft and girlish in comparison to Jude’s abrasive nature and distrustful glare. “Look,” Jude continued, “Why do you want to go so bad, Taryn?” 

“I just want to be there with my friends and maybe with a date. I just want to feel like a normal teenager for the night, is that too much to ask?” 

Jude scoffed, “You’re not still chasing Locke, are you?” 

Thankfully, Taryn shook her head. “No, I don’t know if you remember since you were so hammered, but he was a dick to me at Nicasia’s party. I don’t really have any interest in fueling one of his conquests.”

“Good. Because that’s exactly what would’ve happened, he would’ve used you and then tossed you out like yesterday’s trash,” Jude said bitterly. 

Taryn looked at Jude in confusion, “You make it sound like its personal between you two.” 

Jude bit her lip and looked down at her hands. She’d promised herself she’d never tell another soul, much less her sister, but now she felt like Taryn needed an explanation. Still refusing to meet her gaze, Jude started. “When we were freshman Locke asked me out. It lasted a week, but by the end of it… we ended up… y’know.” 

Taryn’s jaw looked as if it’d unhinged completely, “You had sex with him?”

“Sssh!” Jude hissed, she really did NOT want this conversation going any further than the four walls of her bedroom, “Yes, but it was disappointing to say the least, and by the time Saturday rolled around he told me he was already bored. I think he and Nicasia had started fucking at that point, but look, all I’m saying is that you dodged a bullet ok?” 

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why hasn’t he said anything?” Taryn asked, still in a state of shock. 

“I didn’t tell you because I was humiliated, and I was mad at myself for being so stupid. And he didn’t tell anybody because I told him if he did, I’d tell every single girl in town about how tiny his dick is.” 

Taryn actually laughed, “Oh my god.” 

Jude was laughing too, and for the first time in a long time it felt like they were sisters again. Eventually, their laughter settled, and they ended up talking for a while just to catch up with each other. After about an hour, Jude finally had to gently kick Taryn out so that she could finish her chem homework. Right before Taryn left though, she leaned against the doorframe and grinned, “You know it’s weird, you and Cardan are kind of perfect for each other.” 

Jude tossed another pillow at her, “Not dating!” 

“Don’t care!”

~  
The next day was a Saturday, and she’d planned to go out with Cardan. They were out most of the day, Cardan had dragged Jude to the mall because he apparently had to go find something at Sephora, and in turn Jude had dragged him to her favorite hole in the wall music store that was downtown. She didn’t get home until later that evening, but when he dropped her off at her house, he hesitated before leaving. 

“What is it?” Jude asked. She wasn’t sure what could’ve possibly happened in the span of a day that would make all of this implode. They’d only really bickered a little bit, and it was just over what they wanted to grab for dinner. 

“You know…” he started, and for once it seemed like he was struggling to find what he wanted to say, “You should just, go to prom with me.” 

Jude narrowed her eyes, “Yeah, I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.” She was wondering why in hell Cardan of all people would want to go to the prom when she remembered her argument with Taryn the night before. She groaned, “Taryn put you up to this didn’t she.” 

Now Cardan looked annoyed, “No, she didn’t actually. Is it really that hard to believe I’d like to go to prom with you?” 

“I just find it weird that last night Taryn and I are fighting about it and now you bring it up even though you’ve never brought it up before. You never struck me as the type to care about prom,” Jude answered. Her tone was slowly shifting into hostility. She didn’t like this sudden change in attitude. She didn’t like that it came only after her sister had argued with her about it the night before. And she really didn’t like that it was coming from someone who used to hate her, which meant that maybe, just maybe, he still did and was looking for a great opportunity to humiliate her. 

“Look, I’ve never spoken to your sister. Just, come with me. It’ll be fun. You can stand in a dark corner and make fun of everyone you hate,” he said. 

She almost would’ve bought it, but this was weird. He sounded forced, as if he didn’t want to be asking her but had to. 

“Why is it so hard for everyone to get that I don’t want to go,” Jude said. She knew she sounded defensive, and Cardan looked really annoyed. 

“Just please, go with me.” 

Jude shook her head, “Why are you pushing this? What’s in it for you?” 

Cardan threw his hands up in frustration, “There’s nothing in it for me Jude except the pleasure of your company. Is that so damn hard to believe?” 

She looked back up at Cardan, and scowled, “Yes, it is.” She turned around and rushed into her house, slamming the door in the process. 

“Hey! Be careful with the door!” Oriana protested from the kitchen. 

Jude ignored her and went straight to her room. She couldn’t believe this. She was a moron, she really was, there was absolutely no reason for Cardan to like her or ask her to prom and yet he said he did and yet he had anyway. It didn’t make any sense to her and left her frustrated and confused. She ended up toeing off her shoes and falling into bed, too tired to try and rationalize her complicated relationship, if you could even call it that.

Hours later, Jude was startled awake by pounding on her door. “Jude! Wake up!” 

It was Vivi. Jude groaned, “Go away!” 

Never one to do as she was told, Vivi opened her bedroom door and grinned. “Heather and I brought take out. Come on, do you wanna miss all the good sides?” 

Jude just shook her head, “I’m not hungry.” 

Vivi looked at her, concern slowly making its way onto her face. “You look weird. Taryn said you slammed the door when you got home. What happened?” 

“What makes you think something happened?” Jude asked stubbornly. 

“Because, your eyes are red and Taryn said she heard yelling from the front yard which means you and Cardan got into an argument,” Vivi said simply. She came into the room and shut the door behind her softly. She made her way over to Jude’s bed and flopped down beside of her. They laid side by side for a second before Vivi spoke again. 

“So, you wanna talk about it?” 

Jude sighed, “I feel like Cardan’s playing me.” 

Vivi raised up on her elbows and looked at her in surprise, “What?” 

“Look, don’t laugh at me, but he wanted me to go to prom which was just really weird and not like him but the night before Taryn and I got into a fight because I don’t want to go to the stupid prom, so I felt like she put him up to asking me. And even if she didn’t, it was still weird of him to ask like that,” Jude explained quickly. She hated talking about her feelings or feeling vulnerable but when she did, she talked fast to get it over with. But unfortunately, her sisters had become pros at translating her fast-paced speech. 

Vivi burst into laughter, “You’re mad because the poor boy asked you to prom?” 

“Yeah,” Jude said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“You are truly oblivious, sister dear. Cardan asked you to go with him because he likes you, stupid. Taryn argued with you the night before because she’s found some guy and wants to go but she knows she can’t if you don’t go because of Dad’s stupid rule.” 

Jude sat up and looked down at her big sister, “Don’t say it like that. You know Cardan and I hated each other; all of this could’ve just been an elaborate scheme to humiliate me in payback.” 

Vivi patted Jude’s knee sympathetically, “Or, a boy likes you and you’re being too stubborn and too scared to see it.” Jude didn’t answer and started picking at her cuticles as a way to avoid Vivi’s gaze. “Look,” she started again, “If you don’t go with Cardan, at least go for Taryn. I know you two have had your differences, but it is her senior prom. Whether you agree with it or not, it is a big deal to most people.” With that, Vivi stood and left the room, leaving Jude to her own tumultuous thoughts. 

She knew she should just grow up and go for Taryn, but something in the back of her head kept nagging at her that it was all a trap. She thought about Taryn’s pleading, and Cardan’s surprising defensiveness and maybe even disappointment at her vehement rejection. Maybe he really did just want to have a good time with her at a stupid high school ritual. Maybe he did really like her. Maybe she could trust him. 

After another hour of sitting and debating, Jude finally picked up her phone and texted Lily. 

_Need you to take me last minute prom dress shopping._

The reply was instant. 

_Hell yeah_


	10. Prom Night (is always a disaster)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made it with two updates in one month! I'm proud of myself. Schoolwork has absolutely been a bitch and I feel like I keep dropping the ball on this fic, but I'm trying to get it wrapped up to a point where I feel good about it. I managed to turn the latter half of this chapter out in like, half an hour, so I hope it's good. I'm actually kind of happy with it. Thank you for reading!

Taryn couldn’t believe that Jude had actually agreed to go to the prom. One second she was fighting with her and slamming doors, and then the next she was poking her head into Taryn’s room to tell her she was going out with Lily to find a last-minute dress. She was beyond thrilled that Jude was going. She’d already found the perfect dress, and she had a date. A much better date than Locke would’ve ever been. He’d tried to ask her during gym class the other day, but Taryn had given him a vague answer and made up some excuse to get away from him. He really was a prick. 

Now, she was going with Garrett who was actually a really nice guy, and she would get to fulfill her wish of having one night of teenage normalcy before Madoc’s stupid rule went back into place. Although, if what Garrett had told her was true, maybe that wouldn’t be such an issue after-all. 

It was the other day during one of their tutoring sessions that Garett finally told her what he’d arranged with his friend Van. Apparently, they’d put Locke up to paying Cardan to take Jude out so that he could ask her out. At first Taryn was shocked and angry and rightfully so. But the more she’d thought about it the more sense it made. Jude would have literally never dated or even left their house with another person besides Lily or herself, but this had ended all of that. Now, Taryn actually had an opportunity to do stuff, and it wasn’t like it was a big deal. Jude didn’t really even like Cardan anyway, or maybe she did. After what Vivi and Heather had told her about their time at the park, Taryn wasn’t sure what to think. And then the way Jude had dodged her questions about him the other day and kept claiming they weren't dating had only left her more confused. Maybe she didn't like him, but maybe she did. Whatever their relationship was, it was beneficial to her and Jude _had_ seemed a little bit nicer the last few weeks. Garret even said that Cardan had stopped taking money from Locke. 

Taryn sighed and looked in her vanity mirror. She knew she was rationalizing, but she just couldn’t find it in her to be bothered by it. She grabbed a random tube of lip-gloss from the seemingly endless sea of cosmetics that littered the top of her vanity and put the finishing touches on her look. Her hair was down in carefully constructed loose curls around her shoulders, and her make-up was done to match the peach undertones of her dress. She looked like a princess, she felt like a princess. She heard Jude yell something about leaving from downstairs and grinned, that was her cue to leave. 

She stood up and took one last look in the mirror before heading down to meet her date. She looked the part of the perfectly popular teenage girl, but deep down she knew that she’d done Jude wrong. But still, she looked absolutely _stunning_.

~

“Bye, I’m leaving for the prom,” Jude announced quickly. She hurried out the door and into her car before she could change her mind. She felt ridiculous. Lily had persuaded her to pick a midnight blue dress that was just a little too low cut for her liking. Her hair was done in an elaborately braided style that Heather had done, and Vivi had given her dark smoky eyes and lipstick to match. 

She felt like she was wearing someone else’s face. But she also had to admit she looked pretty nice. She drove to the hotel where the prom was being held and eventually found a parking space in the over-flow parking. She gripped the steering wheel before getting out and tried to take a deep breath. It was fine, it was just a stupid dance there was no reason to be nervous. She finally threw open the door and headed inside, only kind of enjoying the clacking sound her heels made against the wooden floor. 

She could hear the music from the hallway, and she stopped right outside the ballroom, waiting to go in. Taryn would be here soon, she could wait on her, but then that would probably annoy Taryn. Lily had already gone in with her date, some guy named Van, which left exactly zero people for Jude to hang around. Well, maybe zero. She had no idea if Cardan would still even come after she yelled at him. She had shot him a very detailed text of _‘going to prom'_ and hadn’t even received an answer. She was surprised to find that she was disappointed that he hadn’t at least texted her back. But soon enough, her anxieties were semi-squashed.

“You look like royalty, Duarte,” a cool voice said from beside her. She looked up to finally see Cardan, who was looking at her with what she could only describe as awe. He was wearing a very fancy black suit with golden trim, and it looked as if he’d actually attempted to do something with his unruly hair. He was wearing make-up, which wasn't out of place for him, and she had to admit the gold highlight only did his sharp features a favor. 

She cleared her throat, “You don’t look so bad yourself.” 

He smirked and dramatically offered her his arm, “Shall we?” 

Jude could only scoff and roll her eyes, “We shall.” He led her into the ballroom with all the other dancing and laughing teenagers and every muscle in Jude’s body tensed. 

“Don’t look so frightened Jude, it’s only a dance,” Cardan said to her over the music. 

She just shook her head, “I can’t dance very well.” Unfortunately, that was the very wrong thing to say, as it only encouraged him. He grinned wickedly and grabbed both her hands, leading her into the fray. “You just need a good partner that’s all,” he told her. He pulled her closer to him and Jude tried to seem annoyed. 

“Oh, and that’s you?”

Cardan laughed, “You’re relentless Jude, dear. Absolutely relentless.” He settled his hands on her waist, and she tried to ignore the feeling that all of her nerves had been electrocuted at his touch. Then they were dancing, and Jude wasn’t too terrible at it. She definitely stepped on his toes a few times, some of which may or may not have been on purpose, but he never said anything. Eventually, Jude spotted Taryn over his shoulder, and smiled at how happy and bubbly her twin looked. Just for that, it was worth the trouble of coming. And, maybe she was enjoying her time with Cardan. 

But she’d never admit to that. 

So, she kept dancing and pretending to be annoyed at Cardan, but she knew he knew she didn’t really mean it. That’s just who she was.

“So, did you really spend last summer in prison?” Jude finally asked. They’d stepped outside the throng of people, and after a few moments of silence she’d decided to ask what Lily had begged her to ask him since they started this mess. 

Cardan barked out a laugh, “Christ no, I spent last summer on my brother’s couch day-drinking and watching That 70s Show re-runs.” 

Jude smirked, “You know it would’ve been cooler to stick with the prison story.” 

Cardan rolled his eyes, “Ever the liar, I see.” 

“What?” Jude asked defensively, “I’m just saying.” She stopped a moment before elbowing him in the arm, “Although, I don’t think you could handle prison.” 

“And you could?” 

“Probably,” she said with all the confidence in the world. 

Cardan just snorted, “When you finally get arrested on an assault charge, then I won’t bother to pay your bail.” 

“Who says you’re going to be around to pay for my bail?” Jude asked. 

Cardan shrugged, moving to stand in front of her, “I don’t know, I’d like to be around though, if you want me to be.” 

Jude didn’t know how to answer that just yet, so instead she shot him a rare playful smile and dragged him back into the mass of dancing teenagers. 

They spent the next hour dancing and laughing and teasing each other and Jude was beginning to plan out a very extensive thank you to Vivi. If she hadn’t made her come, hadn’t made her realize how paranoid and ridiculous she sounded with her “everyone is out to get me” theory, then she would’ve never had this.

But, that joy only last about a minute more. 

She and Cardan had stopped dancing but they were still standing beside each other and making conversation over the music, when a red-headed bastard suddenly grabbed Cardan by the shoulder and hauled him only a few feet from Jude. 

“What the fuck is this, man?” Locke shouted. 

Jude, assuming Locke was drunk and mad about some previous argument, didn’t worry too much and tried to focus back on the music that was playing. Locke and Cardan exchanged a few more words, and then she heard it. 

“I didn’t pay you to take out Jude so that Taryn could come with some random kid!” Locke shouted. 

Jude felt like the entire floor had been ripped out from under her. The only thing circling her mind was _stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, I’m so stupid_. She stared at Cardan in shock, and he was looking back at her with a visibly pained expression. Jude set her jaw and stomped out of the ballroom ready to go home and break some of Madoc’s valuables with one of Oak’s baseball bats. She only made it halfway to the staircase leading to the lobby when she felt a hand on her arm. She jerked her arm out of Cardan’s grasp and wheeled around, fury all over her face. 

“Nothing in it for you? Yeah right! I can't believe this, I can't believe you!” Jude shouted. She didn’t care who heard her, she was so mad, so humiliated, all she wanted to do was scream. 

“Jude-" Cardan tried to speak but she wouldn’t let him. 

“I cannot believe I was stupid enough to believe that you were anything but a heartless prick. Was all of this some sort of twisted revenge plan? You’re sick, Cardan. What did he pay you? $50 for taking me out, $100 when you nailed me?” 

Cardan was shaking his head, “Jude, I wasn’t in it for the money! I was going to tell you, really, I just- just let me explain,” he said, somewhat desperately. 

Jude shook her head, “Fuck you.” 

She turned to leave but Cardan grabbed her arm again. That was the last straw for her and she whipped around and the next thing she knew she’d hit him across the face. 

“Go to hell, Cardan,” she said, but she didn’t miss the way her voice wavered when she said his name. She immediately turned back to the steps and hurried down them, eager to get out and not have anyone see her like this. She was seething and angry and embarrassed and wanted nothing more than to commit a murder, but he wasn’t worth the jail time. He wasn’t worth anything. 

But apparently, she was worth $100.

~  
Taryn heard Locke before she saw him. She’d been having a fun time with Garrett, when all the sudden the douchebag had stormed in and cornered Cardan, screaming about how Taryn was supposed to be at prom with him and not Garrett. She didn’t really understand why he was yelling at Cardan though, because earlier she’d run into Nicasia in the bathroom, who’d only smirked at Taryn and bragged that Locke had brought her. And then, to twist the knife in her back, she told her that Locke had had a bet with his friends, apparently, he was supposed to have nailed her tonight. Taryn had only made a noise of disgust and stomped out of the bathroom. 

Apparently, Jude had heard whatever it was Locke had said, and she’d fled the ballroom, Cardan running after her. Now, Garrett had walked up to Locke, who was now shouting at Van, and told him to calm down. 

That was the wrong move, as Locke seemed to completely lose his grip and punched Garrett in the face. 

Maybe Jude had rubbed off on her after all, because she could’ve sworn her vision went red. Taryn stomped up to Locke who was still facing Garrett and tapped him on the shoulder. The red head turned around, and Taryn balled up her fist like Madoc had showed her and punched him right across the face. 

“That’s for my date!” Taryn yelled, then to her surprise as much as everyone else’s she hit him again, even harder, “That’s for my sister!” And then, with something that Vivi had actually taught her, she hiked up her skirts and kneed the bastard in his worthless dick. He hit the ground moments later, and she practically growled, “And that’s, for me.” 

She moved over to Garrett and helped him off the floor, asking if he was alright. When she made sure Van had him, she raced back out of the ballroom to look for Jude. It was too late, she only made it just in time to see Jude slap Cardan with enough force to make her wince, and then tear down the steps. Taryn hurried over to the railing, knowing it would be pointless to try and call after her. 

“I was going to tell her, I promise I was,” Cardan said softly. He didn’t look angry at her, he almost looked as if he’d expected it, and wasn’t too shocked about Jude’s reaction. 

Taryn pressed her lips into a thin line and didn’t say anything. She guessed if Cardan had fucked her sister over, then so had she in not telling Jude about the arrangement. Guilt pressed down on her like a weight, but not enough to get her to leave the dance. Not enough to get her to talk to Cardan and see if it’d all really been a lie, just for Jude’s sake. 

No, she went back into the ballroom, grabbed some of the spiked punch, and threw herself back into the party.


	11. Everybody Hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I apologize again for the wait, but as you all know things have been absolutely batshit in the world recently. I was forced to move out of my dorm and back home WAY earlier than intended and switch to online classes. Although hopefully once I work out a steady quarantine schedule I will be able to write fic more :). I think now more than ever, especially since we're all stuck inside with nothing better to do, it's important to tell stories and be silly and just try to carve out a place that isn't so dark and terrifying all the time. I hope you're all doing alright, I love and appreciate everyone who comments and likes my works, so I just want you to know we're in it together and I'm going to try to write out a few more ideas to keep everyone entertained. Thank you for all the love on this story!

Vivi pitched again, and Jude swung with all of her strength. The little faerie figurine exploded with a satisfying crunch, and the pieces fell to the grass with all the other busted china. 

“I can’t believe it, and I’m the one that told you to go- Jude I’m so sorry,” Vivi said again. When Jude had returned from the prom, she’d only changed out of her dress and called Vivi and asked her to come over. Now, they were doing what they always did when one of them was extremely angry. They grabbed a random box of china or glass figurines marked for donations and then busted them to a thousand pieces. 

“Just pitch, Viv,” Jude said roughly. She’d been fighting back tears for the past hour and it was starting to give her a headache. But, Vivi only looked at her uneasily and then pitched again. This time she tried to imagine it was Cardan, and she hit it so hard that some of the finer parts of the china turned to powder. 

“Have you ever considered talking about things instead of committing acts of violence against poor, defenseless figurines?” Vivi tried again. This time Jude didn’t answer, she only choked up on the bat and nodded her head at Vivi. Vivi sighed again and threw, Jude swung, and another porcelain figurine bit the dust. 

Eventually, Vivi stopped throwing and walked over to Jude. She put her hands on both of her shoulders, and before Jude could protest Vivi was talking. 

“Jude, you haven’t even taken off your make-up or taken down your hair, and you’re crying. Please, just talk to me,” Vivi pleaded. 

Jude immediately reached up to touch her face and swore, sure enough her face was wet with tears. She tried to take a deep breath, but it sounded ragged even to her own ears. 

“I just-“ Jude started, she pulled herself together and took another deep breath, “I just thought that we were past all of it. I was having fun too, at the prom. It was fun, and then…” She shook her head violently and shoved Vivi’s hands away from her. “I told you they were planning something, I told you they were and you didn’t listen! I can’t believe I was stupid enough to fall for this, I can’t believe it,” Jude said, but she was mostly talking to herself. Vivi looked stricken but Jude only ignored her and went back into the house. She ignored Oriana’s complaints about the busted porcelain and headed straight for her room. She didn’t even have the energy to slam the door. She just sat at her desk and worked on taking down her hair and scrubbing off her make-up. Maybe tomorrow she would feel better. Maybe tomorrow she would be so enraged that she didn’t have the capacity to feel anything else. 

~

She was wrong. She woke up with a horrible headache, and to thirty different texts from several different people. 

_Oh my God Jude I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry - Taryn_

_I’ll stop by again tomorrow and we’ll go shopping or something, whatever it is you do to pass the time besides acts of violence- V_

_Holy shit, I can’t believe it… But I need to tell you, I talked to Van about it and he said that he knew, he said he never expected things to get so out of hand, and he said that Taryn knew… she’s known for about a month… -Lily_

Jude didn’t bother to read the rest of her texts. She was out of bed in an instant and storming across the hall to Taryn’s room. She didn’t knock, she didn’t bother to keep her voice low, she threw the door open with a bang and immediately started yelling.

“You KNEW?!?” Jude shouted. 

Taryn only rolled over in her bed and groaned, “What are you yelling about so early?” 

Jude practically growled and stalked across the room. She threw Taryn’s blankets off of her and grabbed the pillow she’d put over her face. 

“You knew!? You knew he was lying, you knew Locke was paying him, and YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?!” Jude shouted again. Her voice sounded shrill and detached even to her own ears, but she was so mad she couldn’t even see straight. 

Taryn finally sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, “What are you talking about?” 

Jude smacked her twin with the pillow, “You know damn well what I’m talking about.” 

Taryn only huffed and crossed her arms, “Look, you were never going to get out of the house anyway! What was I supposed to do! Garett said he and Van had asked Locke for the money and then asked Cardan to do it, but he didn’t even take the money after like the first month!” 

Jude was in shock, she couldn’t believe her own twin sister would do something like this, “And that makes it all better!? Taryn, in what universe is this okay!” 

“Jude, just because you have some personal vendetta against every boy you meet doesn’t mean that I do!! And Madoc said I couldn’t date until you did, so I found a solution! You don’t even like him!”

Jude wanted to scream, she wanted to scream and pull her hair out and hit Taryn so hard the girl saw stars. “Yes, I do! Or at least I did until I figured out that my TWIN SISTER was pimping me out!”

“You’re so fucking selfish! You wouldn’t even give me one night! I did what I had to do!” Taryn defended.

Finally, Jude’s self-control snapped, and she felt the tears running down face, she dropped the pillow onto Taryn’s bed and glared at her sister, “I can’t believe you. You’re the selfish one Taryn.”

She didn’t bother to hear her sister’s reply, and turned to go back to her room. To her horror, Oak was standing at the top of the stairs, confusion and fear on his small face. 

“Why are you yelling at Taryn?” 

Jude tried for a watery smile, “It’s nothing kiddo, go downstairs before your mom starts to worry.” With that she re-entered her room and collapsed back onto her bed. 

Hours later, Vivi entered Jude’s room looking confused. “Oak says you and Taryn got into it this morning.” 

“Oak is eight years old and still believes in the tooth fairy,” Jude shot back. Her voice was rough, and she knew she looked like shit. 

“Maybe so, but he still has eyes and ears. What happened?” 

“She knew.” 

Vivi stopped cold, “What?” 

“She knew Locke was paying Cardan, and she didn’t say a damn word.” 

Vivi’s face contorted with rage and she swore loudly, “I can’t believe her.” 

“I know,” Jude said lamely. 

Vivi only shook her head harder and sat down on Jude’s bed. “I’ll talk to her later, but you should do something.” 

Jude glared at her sister, “Like what?” 

“I don’t know, take a walk, hang out with Oak, go the mall, go to the gym just do something besides mope all day.” 

“I am not moping!” Jude protested. 

“Sure you aren’t,” Vivi said sarcastically, “Look, just text Lily or something.” 

“I’m not in the mood,” Jude answered stubbornly. 

“Well then what are you in the mood to do? It’s not like you to just… mope around over some stupid boy.” 

Jude shot up off of her bed and immediately started pacing, “I know it’s not! And I hate it! I hate that I feel this way and I hate that I was stupid enough to think that he actually liked me! I hate that I’m sad, I hate that he hasn’t even called me and… and…” Jude trailed off, fighting off the lump in throat, “And… I hate that I don’t even hate him. Not even a little.” She stopped pacing and sat numbly back down on her bed. This was ridiculous. It was completely unlike her to fall to pieces like this over a guy, especially Cardan of all people.

Vivi pushed Jude’s hair away from her face and sighed, “I know it sucks, sis. Just take a day off. No one has to know you’re having feelings; I’ll make something up if anyone asks. Cry if you want, yell, hit something, eat ice cream, whatever you gotta do. I’ll stop back by later but call me if you need me.” 

Jude nodded, “Alright.” 

Vivi stood up and made her way to the door but before she could leave Jude stopped her. “Thanks Viv, for… understanding.” 

Vivi only nodded and shot Jude a soft smile. And then she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now a note about the actual story, this chapter was much shorter than I wanted it to be, but I really wanted to update and I'm still struggling with figuring out how Cardan is going to apologize. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was fun to write.


	12. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! I finished this monster of a story! Longest its ever taken me to finish a multi chapter but I'm proud of it! It took forever for me to figure out how Cardan was going to apologize because even though this fic is based off of a rom-com, Cardan and Jude are a very NOT rom-com couple so a lot of those tropes really just don't work for them. But I'm happy with what I settled on, and I hope you all like it too. Thank you for all the wonderful feedback and kudos! It makes my day! Hope you're staying safe and healthy, and I'll be back soon with another one.

Two weeks after the prom, and with only one week before graduation, Jude was studying in the park. She’d been fighting with Taryn since she discovered that she’d known about the deal all along, and Oriana had finally had enough of it and demanded that at least one of them leave. Jude had taken to spending her time either outside or with Vivi. Vivi had actually been a steady presence over the last two weeks. She and Heather had offered to help take her mind off of the situation by letting her crash at their newly moved into apartment and buying her takeout. 

She really hadn’t thought about the whole fiasco in a little over a week. She was still furious with Taryn and with herself, but she’d just forced Cardan out of her mind completely. She refused to allow him to take up any more space in her head, and she tried not to dwell on the dulling pain in her chest that always flared whenever she thought of him. 

It was finals week, and she just had to make it through her lit exam before she was officially done with high school. All that was left to do was graduate and then start packing for Insmire. She and Lily had decided to go looking for apartments near their school so that they wouldn’t have to stay in the dorms. She was ready for college. It would be something new, with new people who didn’t know her, and a completely different atmosphere. Maybe then she’d see some peace and be able to pursue her career without interference. 

She was muttering literary terms out loud to herself when a shadow fell over her. She assumed it was Vivi, but she hadn’t expected her to be here so early. 

“I’m not done yet Viv, I’ve still got essay prompts to look over before I can go out with you and Heather, although I told you I’d rather eat in tonight,” she said absentmindedly, still focused intently on her lit textbook. 

Vivi cleared her throat before answering which was weird, but then she started speaking and Jude realized that it was absolutely not her sister. 

“Your sister said you’d be here,” Cardan said carefully. 

Jude snapped her lit textbook shut and immediately started shoving shit into her bag. “What do you want?” She spat. 

“I just want to talk to you.” 

“No.” 

“Please, Jude.” 

“No, absolutely not.” 

“I’m sorry, Jude, I’m truly sorry for everything. For the constant fighting, for agreeing to take money from that prick, for not telling you about it, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he said quickly. He was talking faster than Jude had ever heard him speak and when she finally got a good look at him, she realized he looked rough. In fact, he looked as if he hadn’t slept in a week. 

“You look like shit,” Jude said plainly. 

“Charming to the last, Jude dear,” he snapped back, but there really wasn’t any bite in it. 

Jude had stopped shoving her things into her bag and stood up slowly. When she could finally see Cardan clearly, she didn’t see any sign of the arrogant prick he’d been for so long. Now, he just looked weary and guilty. 

“What you did was despicable,” Jude said after a while. 

“I know,” he answered simply. 

“Taryn said you stopped taking money from him. Why?” 

Cardan sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “I stopped taking the money when I realized I liked you. At first, I agreed to do it because I thought it would be a two-date thing and I was still angry with you for what you did a few years ago. But then we started getting along, and you apologized, and I just didn’t want you to go back to hating me so soon.”

“I don’t hate you,” Jude said quietly. She felt incredibly uncomfortable, and she felt as if she was being poked with a thousand tiny needles all over her body. Every cell in her body seemed to scream _run! Back out! Hit him again!_ But she tried to ignore that. She was tired of insisting that she didn’t feel anything. She was tired of fighting her feelings for him. But that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it. 

“You don’t hate me?” Cardan asked. He seemed genuinely stunned by the admission. 

“No, not anymore at least. I mean- I’m angry at you, I was angry at you but now I just… look what you did was shitty, and I’m not going to excuse it or let it slide,” Jude said. She knew she was stumbling over her words and she knew what she wanted to say but she didn’t know how to say it. “But I’ve discovered that maybe you aren’t as terrible as I thought you were and I think I’ve missed you and I don’t know how to handle that.” She cut off abruptly and bit down on the inside of her cheek, she’d already said too much. She just needed to get her shit and leave before she did any more damage. 

“You- you missed me?” He asked, still looking completely stunned. 

Jude refused to answer, but apparently her silence was damning enough. Cardan had started smirking, and he leaned back on his heels looking incredibly pleased with himself. 

“I can’t believe it, the stone-cold, heartless, stick-in-the-mud Jude Duarte actually has feelings. Who would’ve though, this is truly a monumental-“ He didn’t get to finish because Jude had cut him off by grabbing the front of his t-shirt and kissing him. 

When she finally pulled away, she was pleased to see that all traces of smugness had gone from his expression. Now it was her turn to smirk, “You have to learn when to stop talking.” 

“Maybe you should show me again, just so that it really sticks,” Cardan answered.

Jude fought back a smile. “You’re relentless Cardan, absolutely relentless,” she said, remembering what he’d said to her the night of the prom. 

Cardan laughed and pulled her closer to him. “I know.” 

**Two weeks after graduation.**

“And you’re sure Lily didn’t mind?” Cardan asked, hauling the last box into the apartment. 

“Nah, she said she wanted to take the year off anyway, explore her options or whatever,” Jude said, pulling dishes out of box in front of her. 

“Well, I can’t exactly blame her,” Cardan answered. He stacked the box on top of the others leaned back against the wall. “I think we’ve earned a break, we should really take a break.” 

Jude finally looked up, her hair falling out of the bun she’d tied it back in at the nape of her neck and her eyes looking a little wild, “What? We can’t live out of boxes for the next week, and you haven’t even done anything!” 

Cardan made a noise of protest, “I have too, I helped bring up the boxes and showed the movers were to put the furniture.” 

“You mean the couch you stole from your brother’s and the $30 bed frame we bought at Walmart? That doesn’t exactly count as furniture.” Jude said, turning her attention back to their dishes. 

After graduation, the two of them had agreed to go looking for apartments together after Lily had insisted that she didn’t mind Jude backing out of the original plan. They’d found a place right near Insmire that fit their budget and got them away from their nosy families. Although the hour and a half drive from their hometown didn’t stop Vivi and Heather from driving up and insisting on helping them move. It was kind of strange Jude thought, that she’d gone from hating Cardan to living with him. But she’d long since learned to stop questioning how weird her life was. 

“Of course it counts!” Cardan protested again. He made his way through to maze of boxes and sat down beside of Jude on the kitchen floor. He leaned his head on her shoulder and Jude huffed. 

“You could help you know,” she said dryly. 

“Yeah, but I’d rather just spend time with you.” 

“You can spend time with me AND unpack, it’s called multitasking,” she answered. She unwrapped another coffee mug and sat it down, but before she could grab another box and start unloading it, Cardan grabbed her arms and made her face him. 

“I’d rather spend time with you like this,” he said. He pushed back the stray hairs that’d fallen in her face and kissed her. Jude made a noise of protest, but she didn’t push him away. Eventually, they pulled away to breath and Jude sighed, “I guess unpacking can wait for a little while.” 

Cardan grinned, “So, however will we pass the time?” 

Jude rolled her eyes, “Just shut-up.” 

“As you wish.” And then they were kissing again and again and again. 

No unpacking was achieved for the rest of the day.


End file.
